


You'd Better Get Back, Cause I'm Ready For More Than This, Whatever It Is

by Velocity_Owl87



Category: Hockey RPF
Genre: Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alternate Reality, Alternate Universe - Children, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Attempted Rape/Non-Con, Blood and Violence, Childbirth, Culture Shock, Date Rape Drug/Roofies, Discrimination, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Forced Bonding, Forced Marriage, Gender Issues, Introspection, Marriage of Convenience, Mating Cycles/In Heat, Multi, Non-Traditional Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Sexism, Social Issues, Social Justice, Unplanned Pregnancy, War
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-28
Updated: 2015-11-08
Packaged: 2018-04-01 17:42:30
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 33,948
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4028926
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Velocity_Owl87/pseuds/Velocity_Owl87
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Alexander needs to win. It's not just the competitve streak that compels him, but a real need to keep the freedom that has been so grudgingly granted by the Russian Federation. As an Omega, he should have been locked up at home, bearing kits for the next generation of the Russian elite. But he was too skilled and the government granted him his freedom with a caveat to bring honour to the motherland before he hit thirty.</p><p>But despite his personal best efforts, he's still not brought the glory that Russia craves and needs in uncertain times.  He gets one last shot at the World's and despite getting a silver, Alex's future is in the balance.</p><p>But an attempted assault at a club has Sidney Crosby stepping in to save him.</p><p>In more ways than he ever thought possible.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. I Hate Days Like This, Don't Even Try

**Author's Note:**

> This has sort of been niblling at the edges of my mind. I also have noticed I've had Alex on the brain in the last few fic outings I've done and I couldn't resist writing him as an Omega. I guess too, the worrying change and sanctions in Russia have also sparked some of this. 
> 
> Sid just came in as the least unlikely person to be in a club, a saviour and a plausible mate for Alex, so hence the pairing. 
> 
> Proofed and edited, but if mistakes have crept up, they will be fixed. 
> 
> Title from Mika's "Rain" I've been playing his stuff on heavy rotation, so that's my muse for the moment.

Alex hadn’t really known much freedom before leaving Moscow and the KHL. Despite playing for Dynamo, he was basically kept under lock and key when he wasn’t playing a game. It was even worse when he was in heat, which happened at least three times per season. He was lucky he wasn’t a female Omega. They had much more frequent cycles and less freedom than their male counterparts.

They still got locked away until bonded and used more or less as breeding stock since they could produce multiple kits in one go. The male Omegas only produced one usually small child at a time, but they were still as prized, since they could still work and offer another alternative to producing heirs and having a line survive.

He knew that it had been much worse in the past, when the czars were still in power. Omegas had been kept cloistered until they came of age and then sold to the highest bidder, regardless of gender. He had seen it all in black and white and had been thankful he hadn’t been in the pools once his skill in hockey had been noticed by the right kind of eyes. He had been allowed to play and continue, but wasn’t allowed the suppressants that the western Omegas had allowed for years.

He had learned to suffer through his short heats locked up in a dormitory and let out five days after to train up and go back to playing. It wasn’t ideal, but it was better than being bred with at least three kits at age eighteen. But once the NHL was calling and the Capitals offered a contract...He had gotten a small taste of something different. Something better.

It was true that it meant leaving his homeland and parents and brother behind. It meant learning a new language and customs and being with other Alphas and Betas and a select number of Omegas.

When Alex makes it to Washington and reads the contract through a fine tooth comb with his mother, he admits that it floors him to know that there are more options, more freedoms than he would have ever had if he had stayed in Moscow. The Omegas in America can live alone, don’t need escorts and can choose who they initiate the mating bond with. All of these things are dreams to most Russian Omegas and in America, they are rights.

That, above the obscene amounts of money that were on their way, was what made his eyes go wide. It was unheard of. Even for the elite in Russia. No one had that much freedom unless they defected and despite the fact that they were more or less free to leave, it would break his family’s heart to lose their only and often spoiled, Omega.

The second best option was to get out to either Sweden or America.

America and the NHL came calling and now, he was sitting there, wondering if it was all worth it as well as wondering if his sire and dam would consider it for him.

“You will be a fool if you don’t sign this. A fool.” His mother, an Alpha, told him as she pushed the contract and a fountain pen across the table to her only Omega kit.

He didn’t need to be told twice.

He signed it and in two weeks later, he was in a Washington doctor’s office getting his first prescription for suppressants and the keys to a desperately yearned for freedom.

He refused to dwell on the catch that the Russian government had put in.

“Before thirty. I can do it. I can do it.”

That was the one thing that kept him going, kept him in the game whenever he wanted to give up and curl up in abject misery.

He had made his deal with the devil and he wasn’t going to lose it.

~*~*~*~*~

Alex exhaled heavily as he sat on the bench and wiped his face with a towel, chucking it in the bin behind the bench. He bit his upper lip as he glanced at the scoreboard. They were only down two against the Canadians. It wasn’t the Stanley Cup, but it was still something. If they could get the gold, it might convince the Committee to give him two more seasons before they finally recalled him and mated him with whatever Alpha (Probably old, fat and with loads of money squirrelled away in accounts all over the globe) they deemed suitable.

Despite the accolades that he had earned in his career, the Stanley Cup and Olympic Gold eluded him. It wasn’t enough for the Committee to have him be one of the best, but not the best, according to their standards. Even his dam had adopted that mentality and had pushed and pushed, but there were no real satisfactory results.

Like this past round. It had just been bad luck and as much as it stung to remember that, there was no much else he could say about the situation. At least he could help out the team and get the Gold medal.

But this game was starting to look like it wasn’t going to be the case. Although privately, he would be relieved with something that wasn’t a disappointing fifth or sixth place finish, he knew that his superiors didn’t feel the same. Especially not when their opponents were the Canadians, who had already humiliated them too often for the government’s taste. This was the chance that Russia couldn’t screw up. They had to make it a Golden Worlds.

But by the middle of the second period, he knew that the dream was dead and gone. Zhenya had scored and they wouldn’t go down with no goals tallied at all. He had tried his best, but there was no freaking way that they would be getting through the Canadians and especially not Crosby. He had ground them under his heel and the only thing that they could do now was to muster up some kind of poise and accept their medals with good grace.

Unfortunately, not all of the team had that exact thought and they left the ice during the anthem, making Alex cringe as he and Geno and a few others stayed.

They didn’t even look at each other when they stripped off their gear, showered and dressed to face the media scrum, which was thankfully over and done with in a matter of minutes.

It wasn’t until he found himself walking behind Zhenya and then smashing into his back when he stopped abruptly that the numbness lifted slightly, only to be replaced by rage at having his face rubbed into Zhenya’s back.

Zhenya turned around and Alex swelled up in that same indignant rage and opened his mouth to yell at the Alpha when Zhenya cut him off.

“We’re not staying in. Sergei just texted me. We’re going out.”

Alex deflated a little at that and swallowed down most of his anger at that. He had no choice really. Even if he did outrank Zhenya in the rink, outside the rink, he was just an Omega and Zhenya had the right to smack him around if he stepped out of line.

Other Alphas would have done it even for the mere infraction of Alex scowling at them. But not Zhenya. He was too much of a gentleman naturally and his time in America had polished his manners so that he never would be tempted to give in to such behaviours even if they had crossed his mind.

“Okay. Yeah. We could use it. Drown our sorrows and all that, right, Zhenya?”

It was a weak attempt at his old bluster and bravado and they both knew it. Zhenya would have been aware of the deadline Alex was facing, since he was in the pool himself. He also understood all too clearly what this last failure had to mean for Alex’s permit.  

“Yeah. Drown our sorrows.”

Zhenya replied, even forcing a smile that Alex tried to pretend that was genuine when he was damned well aware that it didn’t even reach Zhenya’s eyes.

Just like he was all too painfully aware that Zhenya was doing it more or less for his benefit.

~*~*~*~*~*

Just as he expected, the club was loud, dark, full of passable booze and pretty enough people of both genders. The music was enough to drive out any of his earlier self-pity and after meeting up with the rest of the team and maybe a few too many shots later, the sting of loss was a distant memory. Alex was now in his element, his mind and body feeling fuzzy and warm from the alcohol. He was so relaxed, he was quite happy to hang out in the booth they had commandeered and watch the dancefloor. The thought of finding a partner for the night occurred to him, but he let it slip past. He couldn’t risk the chance of bonding with someone unsuitable and jeopardize his family’s safety in doing so. He could only imagine what punishments would get doled out if he woke up bonded to a beta or some lowly Czech Alpha that couldn’t really bring anything that Mother Russia wanted to the table.

So despite entertaining the idea for a brief moment, he pushed it out of his mind pretty fast and instead signalled for another drink. His last one of the night before he would go too much over and be unable to find his way back to their hotel. He was all too painfully aware of the scandal that they were facing, since he had checked his twitter on the way here and he knew all too well that the press was salivating at the idea of catching any of them doing something stupid in public. So he took his drink from the overly solicitous waiter and at an inspired moment, also asked for a glass of water. He was handed a chilled bottle that had started to sweat and checked the seal just in case. He wasn’t that far gone as to not notice these things before putting it on the table beside his drink. He thanked the waiter, who smiled and went away. Alex checked his phone, broke the seal of the bottle and took a long swig as he squinted at the screen. He found their handler’s number and sent off a text asking for a car to come for him in fifteen minutes and waited for a response before he started to look for Zhenya and tell him he was going to bail out early.

Those were his plans, but after taking a long swallow of the too sweet and overpriced drink,everything was a blank.

~*~*~*~*~

Sidney was washing his hands in the somewhat seedy bathroom when the door slammed open and a couple stumbled in and made a beeline to the stalls. He frowned at the sight, finding it distasteful, to say the least. He liked his assignations discreet and out of the public eye. But he guessed that things were much different in the Czech Republic and people just had quickies without any care in the world.

Shaking his head, he reached for some paper towel and had just pulled a length of it out when he heard the unmistakeable high pitched Omega whine of pain and refusal. A sound that was made to cut through any background noises and reservations that may have surrounded an Alpha. It was a sound that was exclusively set aside for one thing and one thing only: To entice an Alpha into saving and protecting an Omega.

Although Sidney prided himself on being above his instincts and that control over them had been part of the reason for his success. But tonight, flushed with alcohol and victory, his control had slipped enough for the Omega’s cry of distress to spur him into action.

Without thinking about it, he leapt in, a growl in his throat and his claws extended to attack whoever was trying to hurt that Omega that had called out.

He ripped the door open, surprising the Alpha in the middle of unbuttoning the nearly limp Omega’s trousers. He recovered quickly and snarled at Sidney, covering the Omega who was obscured by the shadows of a broken stall light and still keening that low cry that made Sidney grab the other Alpha and hurl him against the dirty mirror above the sinks he had just been standing at. He growled, beyond furious and waited for his opponent to rise. The other Alpha staggered to his feet and lunged haphazardly towards Sidney, who easily dodged him before smashing him in the face with a brutal hit.

A loud pop filled the room and the Alpha stumbled out, his hand over his bloody nose and his snarls nothing more than pained whimpers. Sidney watched him go and debated going after him for a split second before he remembered that there was still an Omega in need of help in the stall. Swearing quietly, he went to the stall and pulled out the Omega, who was unconscious and smelling strongly of alcohol and something else that he couldn’t quite put his finger on. It was sickly-sweet and it tugged at his memory something awful. But at that moment, there wasn’t much that he could do to figure it out. He made a mental note to look it up later and then focused on helping out the Omega.

Although the shadows were fairly dark, he could make out the slight gleam of a dress shirt and the remains of what had been a suit. He also could feel that this was no wispy Omega. He was damned sure that it was solid muscle he felt  as he reached over and pulled them out of the stall and staggered with them towards the sinks. He was too busy trying to get him (the body was male. Definitely so. Female Omegas couldn’t ever get that much muscle on them if they tried, which most didn’t) propped up to make sure that he was okay when he finally looked up.

And nearly dropped Alexander Ovechkina onto the dirty floor.


	2. Caught In A Trap, I Can't Look Back

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As Claude ends up an unwitting witness to the unlikely mating of Sid and Alex, Sid himself has to make a decision that pits him between the wall and the sword in order to save his rival from a slow and painful death. 
> 
> And even if he does make the right choice, it's not guaranteed to be without its complications as well.

Claude, despite being pretty high up on adrenaline, was sitting in the room he had been assigned to share with Crosby rather than partying with the others. He had been expecting a call from his mate before she went to work and was killing time surfing the net and relieved that Crosby had cleared out when asked. Although he was sure that Crosby would have just put his headphones on and buried himself in a game or hid in the bath, he was relieved that Crosby had taken the hint and cleared out with some of the kits on the team and left him to his devices.

Although he should have had more negative feelings towards the Alpha, he found that they were actually compatible in a few things and he was actually a fairly good roommate-Quiet, conscientious and best of all, didn’t care about what channels Claude picked to watch. If he was honest, he was going to admit that maybe in another lifetime, they could have been friends. But as it was, there was too much water under the bridge, so the best that they could hope for was civility and giving each other space as was needed.

So he was totally floored when in the middle of watching some highlights, the door burst open and the room was suddenly suffocatingly filled with Crosby, Ovechkina and what felt like half of the Russian national team as well.

His quiet hotel room was now a cacophony of Russian and Maritime accented English. There was the slightly accented English of their handler mixed with the plain English of their coach and below it all was the pained low whimpers of pain from an Omega. An Omega whose scent, he now noticed, was concealed to the point of being gone. If it hadn’t been for the specific pitch and timbre of the whimpers, he would have for sure assumed that the room was full of Betas and Alphas.

Not only was the whimpering a worrying sign, but also the lack of scent. There was only one reason why an Omega was scentless and that would be to neutralize or to stop an overwhelming heat until their mate stepped in and bonded them. Or re-bonded them, if it was an Omega that had been suppressants for so long that when the heat came, it was strong enough to overheat their nervous system and send them into a comatose state and kill them. So the fact that the Russians were crowded around Sid’s bed while he looked on in a mixture of helpless fury while their handler and the coach were practically screaming into their phones didn’t bode well at all. Especially not when it was just a little after four and he was sure that they were supposed to be leaving the Czech republic in about six hours.

He sat there, biting his lip and unsure if he should say or do anything when the choice was taken from him by Kulikov.

The young Russian had somehow glanced up from the huddle around Crosby and the bed where Ovechkina lay and had met his gaze. Claude ducked his head, embarrassed at somehow being caught in a situation where he was more of a gawker than anything. Despite it being his room, he felt like he should be making his way out as quickly and subtly as possible. He in fact, closed his laptop and was making a beeline for his wallet, phone and keycard when Kulikov broke away from the circle and came towards him.

“Giroux? Can you...Get ice from machine? For Sashenka. Need Ice.”

Claude blinked as he processed what Kulikov was asking and once he got it, he grabbed his keycard and the empty ice bucket and left the room.

Once he was out in the hallway, he let out a sigh of relief he hadn’t even been aware of holding. Even though it was the generic anonymous hallway of all the hotels he had ever seen in his career; It felt like the widest, most open space after being in such a claustrophobic situation. He stood there for a bit to get his bearings, closing his eyes to do so before he shook it off and went to the ice machine at the end of the hallway.

Scooping in enough to fill the bucket to the brim, he made his way back to the room and paused in surprise when he was met with most of the Russians, their handler and coach. All of them had various expressions of grim determination. But not all of them where there.

Malkin was missing.

He opened his mouth to comment on it, but was intercepted by their handler whisking the ice bucket out of his hand and Kulikov handing him his luggage and carry-on bag.

“What the hell?”

He asked, maybe a bit loudly, since he missed not only the door opening, but also the murmured conversation that took place between them before the door was quietly closed to the rest of them.

“Claude. We got you another room for the time being. Kulikov grabbed your stuff. Everything’s there. Crosby packed it up, so you don’t have to worry about it.”

Claude took the bags numbly, not wanting to really think about why he was getting a new room and why Crosby was staying in the room with Malkin instead.

He opened his mouth again to ask what exactly was going to happen next when the door opened again and Malkin, his usually genial face drawn tight with worry and fatigue, exited it and closed it securely.

He didn’t acknowledge Claude and only nodded to the handler and the coach, making the rest of the Russians look as grim and heartbroken as if someone had just passed away.

Seeing this made Claude’s face go white and his throat go dry as he wondered if Ovechkina was in there, dying.

“Is he going to-”

Evgeni flushed and shook his head violently.

“No! No! Sashenka will be fine. Don’t worry. No. We are feeling this way because we are losing him.”

Claude swallowed the questions he had and simply nodded, looking at the new keycard that Kulikov had pressed into his hand. From the mood of the others around him, he knew that the best thing to do was to leave the scene quietly. At least it was a room on the same floor, only three doors down. If anything happened, he could at least be on hand. He could also ask Crosby questions once the...Once the...Once the bonding was done.

He cleared his throat and forced himself to not dwell on that possibility, despite the overwhelming clues pointing in that direction that he hadn’t or refused to see earlier with all the rigamarole that exploded in the room. He pressed his lips into a thin line and looked up from the card to the expectant group, who were putting off strong vibes of wanting him gone.

“Allright. I’ll be off then. Keep me posted if you need my help.”

Although it was a bit blunt, it seemed to do the trick, since they all mumbled some rendition of a farewell as he turned away and headed to his new room, which was a single and turned down in anticipation for him. Not knowing what else to do, he took out his stuff and arranged it as it had been in the other room and flipped open his laptop.

He logged onto Skype just in time to receive the long awaited call. Taking a moment to clear his mind of what had just happened, he then answered the call and pasted a smile on his face. He didn’t want to worry his mate. Not when even he wasn’t sure what exactly was wrong.

So when her face popped up on his screen, he was ready and the event not quite forgotten, but tucked away for later perusal.

~*~*~*~*~

“Are you sure that’s the only way? Can’t you do it instead?”

Evgeni looked at him through heavy-lidded eyes as Sidney wrung his hands together in despair as both of them looked at Alex.

Evgeni pinched the bridge of his nose in both irritation and impatience before he looked down at his occasional teammate and friend. Alex, despite being drugged up to the eyeballs, was still twitching and occasionally moaning as his system fought to burn off the antisupressants he was full of.  It was a last ditch effort to stave off his heat until they got him to Russia. That had been the plan until the doctor had witnessed clear symptoms of a nascent imprint between Sid and Alex. The drugs were only helping to delay his nervous system from collapsing until Sidney mated him. It wasn’t a solution, but a stopgap that would at least give him some time and stop him from having seizures and possible brain damage once he was mated and his heat passed.

If it passed.

“How much do you know about all this, Sid?”

Evgeni asked bluntly, making his captain and friend scrunch up his nose as his face flooded with colour. Evgeni suspected as much, but he waited until Sid finally muttered something in embarrassment and shook his head.

“You were the first Alpha he touched once his heat started. It doesn’t matter if I was there after. Or that they gave him the meds. His body recognized you as an Alpha and a mate. No matter what else we do, it will not help. His biology has locked onto yours as his mate. Maybe later, when it’s all done, you both can decided to end the bond. But right now...He needs you.”

Sidney’s cheeks got bright red and he bit his lip as his shoulders hunched up around his ears. He was hearing the words, but he didn’t want to go and take that final step. Even when he was presented with the facts over and over again, he was still reluctant to take action. It wasn’t that he was a mean or petty person by nature. It was just the overwhelming knowledge that he would be tied to a person that he had a hard time even liking at the best of times that was stopping him. The knowledge also, that he was literally holding not only Alex’s life in his hands, but also one of the Russian Federations precious commodities scared him. The implications of everything were just too fucking huge and he was scared of it all. Scared of the responsibility and what it would mean to his future, Alex’s future and even the diplomatic future of the two countries. It was way bigger than him and he just wanted to turn around and right out of that room and that country and pretend that it was all a nightmare.

But if he did...Then he’d be nothing but a bloody coward. Worse than that, he’d be nothing more than a murderer, since he would have wilfully refused to help Alex and doom him to death in one of the most painful ways possible for an Omega.

He raised his head and looked at Alex, who was starting to twitch and move restlessly in the bed. Already, the sheets and flimsy hospital gown he was wearing were damp and his skin was shiny with sweat. The whimpering, which had stopped once everyone had cleared out of the room was starting up again and now, Alex’s eyes were fluttering and revealing bloodshot sclera.

They were running out of time and Sidney had to make his decision.

And despite all of his complicated emotions and reservations...There was no way that he would ever do that to another Omega when he had the chance to save them.

Even if it meant the death knell for his own future and happiness.

“All right. I’ll mate him. But I won’t do it with you in the room.”

Evgeni snorted as he moved toward the door, only pausing to look at Sid and put his hands on the still hunched up shoulders.

“Thank you. I know Alex isn’t who you wanted or planned for, but thank you for saving him.”

Sid met his eyes only briefly, letting Evgeni see the only the darkness of irises swallowed up by pupils before he nodded.

Knowing full well that he wasn’t going to get more out of him at that moment, Evgeni squeezed his shoulders before he left, making sure that the door’s locking mechanism clicked behind him.

Once Zhenya had left, Sid turned towards the writhing Omega and took a deep breath, staggering back when the sudden sweetness hit him.

Alex’s heat was on.

~*~*~*~*~

Alex felt like he was both burning and having his skin peeled off one inch at a time. It hurt, between his legs and he felt as if he had been drenched in sweat. He licked his dry lips and gasped at the dryness of his throat. He was sure that he was going to die from whatever it was that had been slipped into his drink.

He moaned and tried to speak, but only managed a raspy croak. He needed water and he needed it desperately and he hoped that there was someone there who could give it to him.

He didn’t know where he was, nor who he was with. Only that they smelled heavenly and that his body was yearning for them. He was thirsty, horny and in pain. He would do anything to make it all stop.

He moaned and blindly reached out for them. He thought that he would only touch air, but his hand was grasped firmly by the one that smelled so good and whose hand felt cool and refreshing to him and the heat receded enough for him to relax just a bit. He sighed as his face was wiped clean with a damp towel and the comfort was complete when a straw was placed near his lips and he was able to cool down even further.

He felt someone murmur something soothing as they ran their fingers through his hair, making him stretch out his neck to soak in all of the touch. He was greedy for it, wanting to be touched after so many heats alone with only toys and his hands for company. He craved the touch of an Alpha. Preferably his Alpha and if this one was it...Why weren’t they taking him?

He vocalized his unhappiness, but it was cut off by his Alpha kissing him. Rough, wet and sloppy, but it was a kiss full of need, desire and desperation to consume him completely.

He opened his mouth in response and was nearly breathless by the time the kiss broke off. The heat in his blood had cooled down considerably enough so that he was able to reciprocate and tear his covering off and present himself in his full glory to his Alpha. His eyes still felt too raw to open, so he had no idea how his Alpha would respond and he hoped that at least it would be in a positive manner.

When he felt his Alpha straddle him and mouth at the juncture between neck and shoulder, he let out a strangled, throaty purr. He was pleased. He didn’t have time to bask into this pleasure when it came. The claiming bite. Hot, brutal and painful enough to bring tears to his eyes, but it was real and it was there. He could feel his Alpha’s essence enter his bloodstream and become a part of him and get his body ready to accept the inevitable whelping that was to come once he was fully mated.

His Alpha licked at the wound, making Alex whine softly as his Alpha’s hands moved down to between their legs. His Alpha’s hands slid past his cock and his balls and into his swollen, wet passage that had him jerking and yowling as he was teased until he was sobbing with need. He may have been begging and close to crying when his Alpha, without finesse or preamble, slipped inside him.

The claiming was complete.

It was then that he was able to finally open his eyes without pain to see who his Alpha was.

And nearly had a heart attack when the baby-face of his erstwhile rival and sometimes friend came into view.

“Sid?”

Sid paused mid-thrust and smiled crookedly.

“Surprise?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Claude and Sid as roommates-Looking at the team Canada roster, considering how the others are pretty young and goalies are always weird, it made sense that they would be sharing the same room. Claude's sexual marker has not been diclosed as of yet. Sorry. Not sure what to make him.
> 
> Alex's condition-He's been roofied, but the drugs that the guy put into his drink trigger a heat that's so vicious, he needs an Alpha to bond/mate with him. The natural endorphin rush of being mated and bonded stops the heat and makes it a natural reproductive cycle. One that is early, but not dangerous. Otherwise, he will literally burn out his nervous system and die. Painfully. So it really is a matter of fuck or die.
> 
> Legalities-That is the reason why the coach and handler are there. Ground work is being laid for Alex's legal status once the situation starts getting addressed when it is time to leave the Czech Republic.
> 
> This has been proofed and edited, if mistakes appear, they will be fixed. Thank you to all that read and commented, glad you like it so far.


	3. When It Rains, It Really, Really, Rains

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sid and Alex both get times to breathe and examine what they both can bring to a mating that they had not expected...but don't necessarily mind. Especially not when new avenues and new perspectives come along with it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a bit of a bittersweet and introspective chapter for both of them. Not as much action, but it is a set-up for them to be able to move on to the next phase of their lives. It's basically a bit of breathing space for them before the storm hits. It's not quite romantic yet, but we can see the seeds of that happening.
> 
> Proofed and edited, but if there are mistakes, they will be fixed later on.
> 
> Song title still from Mika's "Rain"

Sid was scrolling through his phone in an effort to kill time now that there was downtime in their activities. He knew he should be texting people, but he needed this deadtime before the hit shit the fan and everything became frantic as hell. His parents and his sister had texted, but he had only given them curt replies that said nothing. He didn’t want for them to get only half of the story and he didn’t feel like sharing it with anyone else that hadn’t been there as of yet. He was sure that nothing had leaked to the press as of yet, or the PR department was working its magic to keep everything tight until Alex’s heat was done and his paperwork was in check. By international law, there was no contest. Ovie had the bonding mark standing out on his skin and his scent was already impinged on Sid. There was no way that it could be argued he didn’t belong to Sid. Just like Sid belonged to him. But he still wanted everything handled through the proper channels.

Despite the overwhelming proof in his favour, Sid didn’t want to make any moves until PR and his agent assured him that it would be safe to do so and he had Alex’s paperwork in hand. So he remained in the hotel room unless it was absolutely necessary for him to leave and kept in touch with the rest of the world via his phone to make sure that nothing had been put out prematurely. Not that it was a hardship, since Ovie’s heat had left little time for anything else other than mating, sleeping and when possible, room service.

But the heat had broken just a few hours ago, he could tell by the lack of the cloying scents emanating from Ovie and the sudden drop in body temperatures and libidio. He had woken up for some reason, so he decided to surf the net and kill time until it was time to clean up and start delicately addressing all the issues between himself and his mate.

He was doing this when Zhenya’s text interrupted, asking if he and a few of the other Russians could come and see Alex before they went to Russia. Sid stopped his scrolling and turned to look at the subject of the text. Alex was curled up against Sid, practically plastered around him. Alex’s arm wrapped around Sid’s middle in a strong grip, as if he was afraid of Sidney being gone while he slept. Although Alex’s heat had just broken and he could have used the sleep, he could have also used the comradeship of his team before he left for Canada instead of Russia.

Sid mulled it over for a few seconds, wondering if the lack of sleep over meeting his teammates would balance out when he mentally shrugged and texted Zhenya back asking for a time and also to insist that they meet at the hotel’s restaurant as a safety precaution. He didn’t think that it would be fair to make Ovie travel anywhere after his heat, even if it was a short one. Zhenya replied quickly that the venue was no problem, but that time was and that they would have to be down at said restaurant within half an hour.

Sid agreed and signed off, pausing only to look at the Omega draped on him.

Sid was under no illusion that despite their sexual and biological compatibility, it was going to be hard as all out for Ovie to settle into a new homeland, a new set of rules and a new set of expectations. Not to mention the fact that he would have to get used to seeing Sid as his Alpha and the sire of his kits when they were whelped. They had been pitted as rivals for so long that it was going to be hard to be able to work together and be a team connected not by their jerseys, but by their own lifeblood and by their offspring.

Sid knew that if he were on the opposite side of that equation, he’d appreciate having a slow introduction to his new life after such a traumatic entry. Although Alex hadn’t freaked out at seeing him after the first time he had become lucid, there had been a slight detachment. Like a slight separation when they weren’t really in the throes of heat peaks. It wasn’t a huge deal, but it was still enough to make Sid take notice. Although he pretended to not really notice it, he had filed it away as something to deal with once the heat daze was done.It was all chemicals and drives and urges and neither of them was really thinking rationally. There was no point in bringing up everything that they were and weren’t until they were calmer and more themselves.

Knowing this made him much more patient than he otherwise would have. Not to mention the fact that he wouldn’t dare hurt Ovie. The mere idea made his heart clench in his chest and his head automatically turn his head so that he could bury his nose into Ovie’s hair.

He wouldn’t begrudge him that last bit of home before he was shoved into a world that he may have had a taste of, but not fully experienced. Sid knew that some people thought that the U.S. and Canada were one and the same, when it came to laws and permissions. They weren’t, since as Sid liked to point out, Omegas could stay in the workforce and have only one child if they so chose. They also had family benefits and universal healthcare and also had the best pro-Omega legislation in the Americas.

Ovie might have had some freedom in the States, but it was a limited sort, with him having a handler and needing to report to the embassy almost every month, according to Zhenya. It had been a throwaway comment, but it was one that Sid had somehow dredged up from his memory now that Ovie was his mate and his responsibility.

He wished that he could have just grabbed him and run like in the old days, but their departure was delayed from the rest of the Canadian team while his citizenship was being processed through the embassy. It was a sure thing, he had been told by the official he had met with in the rare hours of Alex being comatose while he recovered from the almost frantic coupling his heats required. It just needed to be processed and it would be delivered to the hotel the moment that it was finished.

Sidney had thanked him and had headed back to the hotel to tell Alex the news. He had only just barely gotten in and locked the door of the room that had begun to smell inexplicably of home before he was nearly mauled by a frantic and heat-maddened Ovie. So frantic was he that he almost shredded Sid’s only good suit in his desperation to mate. In fact, he had nearly gouged Sid if the Alpha had been just a tad slower in dodging and claiming him again.

They had mated on the floor. Quick, brutal and almost a fight as they fought for some kind of dominance between them. As sweat slicked bodies met and slid against each other while Sid grasped Ovie’s thick wrists and pinned them over his head as he thrust into him; Sid had to wonder if all that simmering dislike and tension was nothing more than a precursor to this.

Maybe, despite the suppressants and the scent blockers, his instinctual drive had always reacted to the Omega scent that was stronger after their matings and most especially now. Just like it would be no matter how many showers and scent neutralizers he used. Just like his scent was already over Ovie, marking them as mates until the bond was mutually dissolved once their kit was born.

The idea of a kit brought him back to the present and he tenderly stroked the tangled curls that were splayed out on his chest. Although he would have balked at the idea of being a sire at such a young age before, he found that when he thought about the situation, he was strangely calm about it. He supposed too, that after the implications of being Ovie’s Alpha had sunk in, a kit was not as a big bombshell as it had been before. He knew his dam had been hinting about it for awhile and he also knew that the high pedigree of sire and dam would stem the backlash that no doubt would be making an appearance.

Especially when the possibility of a kit would have been confirmed. Sid was positive that there was a kit. The milky sweet scent from Ovie’s head was there, despite being obscured by their mingled scents and the saltiness of dried sweat. Sid sighed and pressed a kiss into his mate’s head before pulling away and shaking him gently awake.

“Whu? Huh? Sidney? What’s going on?”

Ovie asked, raising his head only to blink up sleepily at his mate and yawn widely, making him look like an overgrown kitten. Enough so that Sid had to work hard at composing himself before he replied.

“Zhenya just texted me. The team is leaving in a bit and want to see you before they go.”

He expected Ovie to be pleased at the prospect of seeing his teammates and friends, but not the mad excitement that followed, with Ovie jumping off the bed and running to the shower. Sid was left on the bed, not quite sure what to make of the sudden burst of energy when Ovie returned, kissed him and smiled broadly before taking off to the bathroom.

“Okay. Okay.”

Sid muttered, nodding his head. It was a weird reaction, but one that he could live with.

At least he wasn’t muttering in Russian and glaring daggers at him. He had that as an advantage at least. He had to be a bit optimistic about them possibly ending up on a good note, rather than ending up killing each other over every minor situation under the sun.

~*~*~*~*~*

Sid knew that it was the best thing to have done for his mate when he saw how excited and animated the quiet brunch ended up being. Although he did occasionally did catch the shadow of fear or sorrow in some of the other guy’s eyes. Even Zhenya, who was doing his best to bridge the gap between the poor English skills of his teammates and Sid’s non-existing Russian, was somber as he sat there. Although he was smiling almost non-stop, Sid could see the way that it never quite reached his eyes.

Although he felt like the odd one out, he could see how much it meant to Ovie to have this. Each laugh and each gesture and conversation was as if he was drawing all of the warmth and energy of all of them to sustain him when the time came. It was a glimpse of who Ovie could be and was when the cameras weren’t rolling and the pressures to succeed and bring Russia the due that they demanded for his freedom. He was truly in his own element and despite being slightly bored and impatient for it to be over, he still stayed and drank the tea that was being offered by the bucketful.

“You good?”

He looked up from his phone to smile at Zhenya, who was now raising a cup to his lips and drinking the strong, black tea down with relish.

“Yeah, I’m cool. In fact-”

“Mr. Crosby? I’m sorry to bother you. But you’re needed at the front desk.”

The hostess looked very apologetic as she relayed the news, waiting at a discreet distance as Sid got up.

“Hey, Zhenya, can-”

“No problem. Just take care of what you need.” Zhenya interrupted as his eyes shifted to Ovie, who was intently listening to Ilya telling a story while the others subtly scouted the area just in case. Smiling his gratitude, Sid followed the hostess to the front and tried to appear nonchalant when he saw their handler standing there with an apologetic look on his face.

“Ah, Sid. Good. Listen, we need you and Ovie to come to the embassy right away. There’s a car waiting outside. We need to be quick since they are a bit busy and your flight leaves in four hours.”

Sid’s eyes widened at the news.

“Wait, what? Why do we have to go? I got told that the paperwork would be sent here. Why the sudden change?”

The handler pressed his lips tight before he answered.

“Russia’s got wind of the situation. We need to act fast before it escalates.”

~*~*~*~*~*

Alex chewed on his lower lip as he stood beside Sidney in the foyer of the embassy with the ambassador and an Orthodox priest along with the handler and Zhenya standing in as witnesses. It was necessary for the ceremony to be witnesses and done so that his Russian citizenship would be used to grandfather in his newly minted Canadian one. His passport would be stamped with an Omega symbol and leaf and he would be leaving everything behind in Russia and living with Sidney.

He snuck a glance at his Alpha and felt his pulse thud in his ears. Sidney was staring straight ahead, waiting for the ceremony to start and not a trace of nervousness showing in his demeanour. Alex knew that Sid was as on edge as he was, he was still poised and collected. Something that he had to admit was desperately needed, since he knew that if it wasn’t for the solid presence of him, Alex would have already collapsed over the entire turn that the World’s had taken. None of which he had expected to ever happen.

He smiled slightly at that understatement. He had been expecting to barter more time with a medal and maybe even get himself a possible voice in whom his Alpha would be if Russia had decided against giving him more time. He wasn’t sure still if having been drugged by a predatory creep had been a bad thing.

He didn’t quite remember much of what happened after the initial delirium. He only knew the shame of being tricked and overwhelmed and had cried out his distress. At least he thought he had. How else could he have explained the feeling of being safe and warm and that scent that he understood to have been Sid’s all along once he had gotten enough lucidity to put two and two together? He should have left the hotel room once the heat had seceded enough to let him think. He had nearly done it, his pride egging him on to pick up the phone and find Ilya or Zhenya when he made the decision to find a pen and a notepad to leave Sid a note and actually turned to look at him.

And pushed the pen and notepad away before returning to the bed they were sharing and curling up around Sid. Despite everything...Sid hadn’t walked away and let him get raped and bonded to an unknown predator against his will. He had mated someone that had treated him with respect and dignity, rather than treating him like expensive chattel to be protected. He had put Ovie’s needs first and had claimed him, rather than leaving him to die or worse, having a forced bond with someone else who meant well, but wasn’t Alex’s chosen Alpha.

And thus making the earlier action moot.

Sid had saved him in more ways than just the physical.

Alex knew that despite the heat that they had shared, he wasn’t really in love. He knew that Sid wasn’t either.

But at least they had mutual respect and something could be hopefully built on top of that.

“You ready?”

Alex blinked and looked up at Sid. His mouth was dry and he looked at the priest and the ambassador, who were waiting for his reply.

Sid raised his eyebrow, waiting for a response when Alex swallowed hard and nodded.

Sid smiled slightly, and held out his hand.

Without any hesitation, Alex took it.

They were ready to begin.


	4. Leaving Me With Words Unspoken

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The morning after landing and Sid's family force his hand in regards to introductions. This in turn, forces long unspoken friction to finally break and for Sid to make a decision that leaves him unsure of what he is actually feeling about everything involving Alex.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi and apologies for the long delay. I'm winding down work at the moment and the internet has been bad due to the Hudson Bay's weather patterns so I've not had a chance to finally get this chapter ready and posted. It's an interaction kind of chapter that has Alex being introduced to Canadian life. 
> 
> It also has a bit of a hint of attitudes in regards to dynamics and how they affect family interactions.
> 
> Proofed and edited, but if there are issues, they will be resolved.

Alex was exhausted when they finally landed in Cole Harbour. The flights were long and the layovers were excrutiating. His head hurt and he could feel the tension emanating from Sid whenever someone recognized them or there was a newsclip on the televisions at the gates. Although they were all muted and in different languages, they both still winced whenever the blurred picture of them leaving the embassy and jumping into the car was shown. He could see his and Sid’s name and he cringed whenever he thought of how his sire and dam and litter mate would take the news. He pushed that thought away and resolved to deal with it once they had landed in Canada, no matter what the time zone. He just didn’t feel it was the right time or place to handle what he knew would surely be a wrenching conversation.

So he simply focused on staying close to Sid and getting through the gruelling marathon that international travel usually was.

He was so wound up and exhausted that he could have cried in relief when Sid led the way to his SUV and drove them straight to his house. He didn’t even bother turning on his phone and simply drove.

Alex watched the scenery of Nova Scotia zoom beside them and swallowed down the half-formed words that he wanted to get out, but couldn’t. Not when he could see Sid’s white-knuckled grip on the steering wheel as he manouvered the roads that got him to his summer home. He only had a few moments to take in the scenery of the place before Sid was slamming the doors of the SUV in a not so subtle hint that they needed to get inside and start hunkering down.

Something must have shown on his face at the rushing, because Sid smiled slightly at him.

“Tomorrow, I promise. But right now, we need to sleep. I have a feeling that’s not something we’re going to get a chance for if the fallout looks as complicated as I think it will.”

Alex winced at the reminder that it wasn’t all over just yet. They still had to call their agents, pick up his paperwork and get a confirmation on whether or not he was going to have a kit. He was sure of it. Although he hadn’t been with too many partners during his heats, he wasn’t feeling the same as he usually did when his heat was done.

Most of the time, it was a short discomfort that lasted half a day at the most. Right now, he was feeling more than that and there was a heavy feeling in his lower belly. He guessed he could ask Sid for another confirmation, but he dismissed the impulse despite knowing that it was probably the best bet until they got to the doctor. Alphas were so attuned to the possibility of an Omega carrying their offspring that they sometimes could tell before the Omega themselves were aware. An Alpha's hunch could be used as a double confirmation for an Omega who suspected that they were carrying.

And if Sid’s over-protectiveness outside the embassy and the airports was any indication, he more than likely was. Which would mean kissing next season and the chance at the Cup goodbye. He cleared his throat and nodded, grabbing his bag and following Sid as he led the way to the house. All of these emotions served for him to keep quiet. He didn’t think he could deal with being smothered at that moment. He liked attention,yes. But not the kind that reminded him over and over again that he was an Omega and helpless in so many different ways. Sid had seen him at his lowest and as much as he was keen on dismissing it, he was still a bit embarrassed at knowing that he enjoyed being taken and being somewhat petted by his former teammates and his Alpha.

Said Alpha unlocked the door and held it open for Alex to walk through, hitting the switch once Alex was in the foyer and bathing the room in a bright, but not too overwhelming light. It revealed a tastefully decorated, but comfortable place dones in soft shades of brown and blue. It felt like a home that was waiting for its family to come home to and it immediately made Alex turn to look at Sid, who was, for the first time, nervously looking around at everything, yet carefully not meeting Alex’s eyes.

“It’s not quite a _dacha_ , but it’s where I feel most at home and safe.”

It was the first time that Sid had admitted this out loud and it was obvious to Alex and it was touching that the Alpha was offering this information up without prompting.

He wet his lips and tried to find the right words to say that he understood and appreciated this gift for what it was: An Alpha presenting what he could offer his Omega and hoping that it was more than good enough.

And it was. More than Alex could ever hope to repay in return.

“I never wanted a dacha. I have always wanted a home, though and that is what matters.”

It wasn’t lovely, nor was it elegant. But it was true and by the way that Sid’s eyes lightened and his mouth quirked up into a faint smile, it had been the right answer.

“Come on. I’ll show you the bathroom and bedroom. Unless you want to have a room of your own?”

The last was added in what was supposed to be a casual tone, but failed due to the slight tension at the corners of Sid’s eyes when he spoke. Alex was tempted to ignore what he had seen and agreed with wanting his own room. Despite his social nature and need for companionship and touch after being locked up during his heats for so long, he did need some kind of distance after emotional upheaval. But he also couldn’t ignore the faint pull towards Sid. It was there, like a low current tingling under skin, only noticeable when he thought about moving away from his Alpha. He knew it was the bond that was forcing the need for proximity. More proof that he was breeding and subconsciously desiring the protection of his Alpha, something that could potentially be a problem if he was in Washington and Sid was in Pittsburgh.

He pushed that out of his head, not wanting to deal with too much at once before he knew exactly what he was dealing with. One thing at a time and sharing a bed with his Alpha was probably the best thing to do at that moment.

“No. Just bed. Maybe later. I’m tired.”

He knew he didn’t sound as coherent as he usually did, since the exhaustion decided to overwhelm him at that exact moment and make him feel as if he was a hundred years old. He blinked a couple of times to stave it off and looked at Sid, who was smiling slightly despite the exhaustion lines bracketing his eyes and mouth.

“Let’s go to bed, then.”

They moved towards the bedroom silently, his hand in Sid’s and it felt not quite right, but it would be eventually.

They got ready for bed silently, with Sid handing an old t-shirt and new boxers over and discreetly turning around to give him some privacy to change before Alex did the same. They crawled into bed, with Sid turning off the lamp that had provided the small amount of light and instinctively curled up around Sid.

He didn’t even stop to think about it, just burrowed into the warm, comforting bulwark of his mate’s side, started to purr and passed out within moments.

~*~*~*~*~*~

Sid was woken up by the smell of coffee and eggs. Frowning, he moved to sit up and was stopped by the heavy weight of someone’s arm pinning him down. Blinking, he looked down and seeing Alex’s arm and the rest of him nearly hidden by the bed covers brought it all back in a hurry. He smiled at the messy haired lump, the unaccustomed warmth and purring a welcome change from his usual cold and efficient morning routine.

He would have stayed in bed, savouring the rare feeling of warmth and closeness and home, but when his stomach started growling and Alex’s head popped out of the covers and he started sniffing the air, he knew that it was time to get up and greet his mother and quite possibly his sister. He had a dim recollection of texting them to let them know he was flying in and the breakfast was just part of a tradition that had started everytime he had come home at the end of a season or a tournament.

Although it wasn’t the best time to break the news, he figured that if they were there, it would be easier to break the news to his father when he showed up later. He was sure that things would be much easier, if not smoother with Taylor and his mother, since both were Omegas. His father was a Beta and despite treating him well, had the inborn disdain and awe that most Betas had for Alphas. He also was well aware that his father wanted him to settle down with a female Omega like he had, since he found the idea of an Omega son in law distasteful. Sid scrunched his nose as he moved Alex away, nudging him to completely wake up and get moving.

“Who else is here, Sid?” Alex asked, yawning widely and garbling his words as he spoke.

“My mum. Maybe my sister. They do this for me when I first show up.”

“Oh.” Alex replied. He mumbled something under his breath as he turned and looked around for his trousers, which lay crumpled on the floor and slipped them on.

“I’m going to use the bathroom, while you get dressed.”

Sid nodded as he also puttered around grabbing trousers and pulling them on fast.

“There’s an extra toothbrush in the cupboard. Help yourself.”

Alex smiled in reply and moved into the ensuite, shutting the door behind him and leaving Sid to run his fingers through his hair as he paced the room, waiting for Alex to get ready. It didn’t take long. They were used to sharing space and moving with quick efficiency, so it wasn’t surprising that Alex was done quite rapidly and hadn’t time to fidget or get bored when Sid stepped out of the bathroom, completely dressed in jeans and a shirt that he had dug out of his closet and slipped into as fast as possible as to not keep everyone waiting. Alex himself used the time to get dressed in the slacks and shirt that were only just a bit crumpled from his suitcase and was standing there, staring thoughtfully out the window, a calm expression on his slightly tired face.

The tiredness tugged at his heart. It wasn’t going to get any easier in the weeks coming up. He knew that they were going to be tired more often than not. That there would be long nights, conversations or silences as one thing after another was resolved or not. It would be a trying time to come.

He didn’t want to cloud their last bit of quiet for the foreseeable future with unfounded worries. So he firmly pushed all of it to the back of his mind and instead moved up to Alex and inobtrusively took Alex’s hand into his. Alex looked up, smiling briefly as he did and tightened his grip around Sid’s hand.

“You good for breakfast?”

Alex nodded and they went to the kitchen, where Sid’s entire family sat with the breakfast spread out and a completely dumbstruck look on each other their faces as they took in who it was that Sid was bringing to the table. Alex was oddly subdued as Sid got them closer to the table, but he didn’t make a move to sit down. There was palpable tension in the air, most of it coming from Sid’s father and Alex felt as if it would be a dire mistake to be so vulnerable in case he had to flee or fight.

Sid noticed and moved to stand just slightly in front of Alex. If anyone was going to be facing down the situation, it was going to be him and not his mate.

Sid’s mother came in, a plate of scrambled eggs in her hands and quickly picked up on the atmosphere. Putting the plate down, she turned to her son and Alex and smiled a genuine, but surprised smile.

“Oh! Sid, you didn’t tell us you were going to have company! Are you going to introduce us?”

Sid could have cried in relief at his mother’s smoothing over the situation with basic politeness and cleared his throat as he pulled Alex closer and wrapping his arm around Alex’s waist. He wasn’t normally a touchy-feely person, but he knew, from all the media lessons, he needed to put on an image of how he was going to proceed. Even though this was his family, he couldn’t let them tear Alex down and try to convince him to do anything other than stay with Alex.

He also was aware that it wasn’t just the need to put on a solid front. It was the instinctual need to keep his Omega close that had him doing that. As much as he wanted to deny it, the minute that he felt his mate threatened, his first impulse was to protect them despite knowing full well that his mate had more muscle and height on him. But it was the instinct and he obeyed it without thought.

“Yeah. Uhm, Sorry. Mom, Dad, Taylor, this is Alex Crosby. He’s my mate.”

For a solid minute, there was no reaction from anyone in the room. But once the news had sunk in, Sid’s father was the first to stand up and break the silence.

“Sid...I know that Alphas think differently in regards to mating...But why him? What possessed you to bond yourself to not only your rival, but a male omega? Do you understand what you have done here? To mate with him?”

Alex flinched at that, his face flushing pink right as he took a step forward to address the insult. Sid held him back, turning  to his father and letting just a bit of his iron control bleed through to take care of the insult that his sire had flung at his mate. Ignoring his mother’s words of reproach and his sister’s squawk of outrage at the elder Crosby’s words, he turned the full force of his fury towards the elder Crosby.

“It isn’t your choice, now is it? Alex is my mate and I’d expect you to treat him with the same courtesy as you would if I had bonded with someone else. He is my choice. He will bear my kits and that’s the end of that. I don’t think that you, or anyone should have that much say in whom I choose to spend the rest of my life with.”

The last words were spoken with an undercurrent of a growl and Sid was sure that his eyes had gotten lighter in warning and in rage. He wasn’t about to let anyone, even family, mistreat his mate. And if he had to choose between his birth family and his mate, he knew who he would go to.

“Troy, that was quite uncalled for and you know it! Sid’s mate is his choice. Always has been. Even as a parent, there was no way that you could have influenced it.”

Troy Crosby turned an ugly shade of red at being reminded that despite being a father, he was only a Beta and held little to no sway over his son. The son that they had said would have been a tractable Beta or a passive Omega and had turned out to be an Alpha. Despite keeping a tight rein on his nature, he was still an Alpha and an Alpha didn’t bow down for no one.

Alex drew in a breath sharply and looked at Sid’s father, who looked like he was struggling to just barely keep it together. In fact, he took a couple of deep breaths to calm himself down enough to actually make a rebuttal to his Alpha son.

“He-”

“He isn’t your concern. Never has been and never will be. As I said before, if you want to be welcomed into my home, you will treat Alex with respect. Otherwise, there’s the door.”

Troy Crosby’s face flushed an even darker shade of red as he rushed out of the kitchen while ignoring his wife’s and daughter’s cries of protest. A moment later, the front door slammed and Sid let out a breath he didn’t even realize that he had been holding. He shook his head and rubbed at his eyes before looking up and finding what remained of his family looking at him. Not with contempt, but with respect.

He turned to look at Alex, who was also looking at him with ill-concealed awe in his wide blue eyes. His face was flushed again, but it wasn’t with suppressed anger.

It was with admiration that Sid had never expected to see on any Omega’s face.

Much less Alex’s.

And it made his heart warm.

And it terrified him completely.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Crosby Family- I am pretty sure that they aren't jerks like this and this is a fictionalized account of what could happen if family dynamics are skewered along with expectations and not living up to what parent's feel they should be. It's even worse for Sid and his father since he outranks him in the hierarchy despite being the child.   
> Alex and Sid-In a way, they are starting to court each other in subtle ways that neither of them want to really acknowledge or do in some instances, but know that they can't be thoughtlessly cruel to the person that they are living with. So they are a bit clueless, but they are slowly warming up to each other.


	5. Is It Really Necessary?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With some of the major hurdles out of the way, Alex is left to contact his family and share the news. Although it goes fairly wel, the reality of his new status starts to sink in. Especially when it comes to his professional life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long delay, things were a bit hectic at the end and I just now have the time to post. Just a note about the format. Italics are used to denote conversations in Russian or legal paperwork, inner thoughts and flashbacks. Longer notes that pertain to plot elements are at the end.

“I know they’re your family...But you sure you’re going to be okay doing it alone?” Sid had asked as he slipped on his jacket, his expression one of worry as he watched his mate dig through his bag and fish out his laptop and power cord in preparation to contact his family and figure out the steps that they needed to take to get them out of Russia if necessary.

Alex tucked his laptop under his arm and patted Sid’s shoulder, not sure if he was doing it for him or for himself. After the scene with Sid’s family, he wasn’t sure how things would go over with his own. He hoped that it would go better than what he had seen. Although he was sure that it would, he didn’t want to add that burden to Sid’s shoulders. Even though he knew that Sid wouldn’t have minded, this was still his responsibility and not his Alpha’s.

“It will be fine, Sid. I promise. You go. Don Cherry is impatient to hear what you say about us.”

Sid’s expression softened and he allowed himself a smirk before he pressed a kiss on Alex’s temple, leaving Alex slightly surprised and without enough time to react when Sid muttered a goodbye and was out the door in moments.

Shaking his head, he took his laptop and headed to the kitchen to begin.

Alex set his laptop up on Sid’s dining room table and took a deep breath before he logged on. He had a cup of decaf tea at his elbow (courtesy of Taylor, who was letting her Omega nurturing side out with a vengeance once the news of his pregnancy was confirmed) and had Sid and Taylor’s numbers on speed dial just in case it went worse than he was expecting. He had basically fallen off the radar after his heat and the move to Canada and hadn’t really had a chance to call his family until now, almost two weeks later.

Despite wanting to get it over and done with, he had been advised by Sid’s agent that it would be best until his citizenship and passport came through and the PR release was done. Russia had already issued a statement condemning the Czechs for not having followed safety protocols regarding Omegas. They had snidely insinuated that the Canadians had planned to steal their top Omega by springing a trap that the Czech had been aware of.

It had been frustrating to simply sit and listen to the ludicrous bullshit that the Russian government was putting out, but their PR team wanted them to wait until they had a solid and logical rebuttal to counter not just the Russian allegations, but the tabloid ones as well.

It was a lucky thing that he had developed such a thick skin over the years from being singled out by Cherry and other hockey media pundits or else he would have been losing his mind over all the shit that was being published about him and Sid. He didn’t give a damn what the Canadian public thought about him, but he did hate that Sid was being painted as a naive fool that was tricked into his Russian clutches and forced into a mating bond. Or worse, being painted as a traitor that was in collusion with the Russians and their nefarious plots. Whatever those could have been, Alex couldn’t even fathom.

Alex and Sid had mainly taken to reading the headlines for amusement and the fodder for mockery that had been provided had been endless.

“Yes, because I clearly have an effect on Russian policy in the Crimea. Yep. And you are totally tight with the Canadian intelligence, right Sid? Sid, Why you laugh? Sid!”

They had mostly shrugged it all off and gone on with their plans as Sid had somehow outlined in a list (with bullet points, _bozhe moy!_ )and this was one that Alex wanted to get out of the way so he could figure out where to go next. It also would save him the grief of trying to contact his agent, since his Alpha mother was the one that was handling that end of the deal.

So after pushing out all of the fragments of excuses and procrastination out of his mind, he logged on and clicked on the icon of his mother and forced himself to be calm as he waited for it to connect. It didn’t take long for his mother to answer, filling the screen with not just her tired, but not angry face, but also with his brother, father and nana crowding in to see him.

_“Sashenka! How are you? Is he treating you well? Are you breeding already?”_

His nana had taken center stage before anyone else could say anything, her blue eyes warm and twinkling in her lined face as she got too close to the webcam and made Alex kind of grin and laugh at the same time.

_“Yes and yes to all of it. We’re in Nova Scotia right now sorting out stuff. I didn’t want to call until this arrived.”_

He held up the brand new citizenship certificate and the accompanying passport, all new and shiny holographic paper with his name “Alexander Mikhailovna Ovechkina Crosby” and maple leaves emblazoned on every available surface of the passport. He hadn’t really believed that it was going to come through until he held them in his hands and inspected every single inch of them. They were and he was Canadian, his ties with Russia being only his family.

_“Are they really angry? Will you be-”_

_“We’ll be fine. Your nana was on it the minute that we knew the team hadn’t arrived.”_

His mother cut him off, gently pushing his beaming nana away from the screen so that she could see her kit.

Alex’s jaw worked as he understood what exactly his grandsire had been busy doing when he was in the middle of his heat and fleeing Prague with Sid.

His sire's face darkened slightly and she shook her head slightly.

_"Sashenka, do not worry. We will handle it. We have done so before. Worry about yourself and your kit. Understand?"_

There was an edge of command in her voice and despite his reluctance, he found himself nodding and changing the subject. She wasn’t quite commanding him, but it had enough authority to make him do exactly as she wished.

_“Where are you?”_

He expected them to say Belarus or even Georgia, but the answer surprised him.

_“Riga at the moment. We’re waiting for a connecting flight to Washington and stay at your house. The rest of the family already was in Tallinn on a trip. Will we see you soon?”_

Alex bit his lip and rubbed the back of his neck as he tried to put it as delicately as possible that it wasn’t going to happen any time soon. He sighed and shook his head.

_“Maybe after the kit’s born. I can’t really be moving around with a kit on the way.”_

His Sire and Nana both made noises of anger, but didn’t say anything else to follow them up. They both were aware that the first months were difficult for a male Omega and it was the custom in Russia for an Alpha to guard their Omegas and jealously hide them away until the time came for them to give birth to their kits. Alex had counted on them recalling the custom and going along with it when in truth, he didn’t feel that it was quite safe to travel until everything on the legal sphere was sorted out. It wasn’t quite the same as when his dam and sire were growing up, but he still remembered the stories and was well aware that if he didn’t play his cards right, he could very well be ending up in the modern version of Siberia.

_“So will you stay in Canada until you whelp? Or will you go down to Pittsburgh with your Alpha and whelp your kit there?”_

Alex scrunched up his face and shook his head. They hadn’t really gotten far when they were discussing what came after Alex’s legal status and the pregnancy had been confirmed. Sid had gone out to meet with Mario Lemieux and his agent and other than having a few moments of letting the news of their kit sink in, hadn’t really said much about where and when they were going to nest and have their kit.

His Dam made a small yowling noise and was interrupted by his Sire again.

_“Let us know when you do finally decide. We should be in Washington in the next two days. We have the keys and we will make it a den when you come down. We will call you when we arrive. Sashenka, take care of yourself, your Alpha and your pup. Stay safe."_

His Nana waved at him and his sire and his dam nodded at him before they ended the call, leaving Alex staring at his reflection before he blew out a big breath and took a large swig of his still warm tea. He swallowed it down, keeping his hands wrapped around the mug in an effort to keep his hands still and not shake. His emotions were roiling and conflicted as he mulled over the repercussions of his mating with Sid. They couldn't ever go home again.

He didn't want to get emotional about the situation, but the fact that his family had made plans to settle elsewhere once they found out he was claimed, really hurt. Knowing that he was the cause of their exile made him just feel utterly guilty. He knew that it wasn't his fault, but he still felt horrible and couldn't do much else except sit at the table and drink the tea while he tried to get his emotions under control.

He hated that he was at the mercy of his emotions and how he was nothing more than the property of his Alpha. That he was nothing more than a pawn his country was using as an excuse to punish his family and force them out of their homeland. He hated that his hands were shaking and he hated that he just wanted to punch a wall and cry at the same time.

That was how Sid found him, half an hour later when he came back.

“Alex?”

He raised his head and looked at his Alpha, who was standing in the kitchen and looking unsure as to whether he should be entering the kitchen and offering comfort or leaving him alone.

Alex took one last sip of his tea and stood up, closing his laptop.

“They are fine. I just...I just…” He trailed off and rubbed his face roughly before continuing. “It just became clear. I am not Russian anymore. I cannot go back. to Russia. It is not my home.”

Sid didn’t say anything as he moved further into the kitchen and stood in front of Alex.

“You’re going to be okay? Are your parents okay?”

Alex nodded and looked up at Sid.

“Yes. I just got overwhelmed after talking to them. They are safe. We are just not welcome home anymore.”

“Just like me.”

Alex winced and pulled Sid into a hug, purring to soothe the sadness he felt spike up after Alex had made the remark of not being able to come home again.

“I’m so sorry, Sid. I-”

“I know. I know.”

~*~*~*~*~*

“I talked to PR and to Mario.”

Sid told Alex as they ate the simple meal that Alex had thrown together from all of the food that Sid’s mother had stocked the kitchen with before she had left them. Although he wasn’t exactly domestic as all Omegas were reputed to be, he had felt guilty complaining about not being able to go back to Russia when Sid’s family was effectively estranged from him due to the choice of his mate. The least he could do was feed his Alpha and talk about the plans that they had to make in order to secure their future together.

“What did they say? Will you make the statement soon?”

Sid chewed on a bite, swallowed and nodded.

“They want us both to be there when it is being made. Mario and Leonsis are in the middle of making the deal for you.”

Alex put his fork down and looked at Sid in confusion.

“What? I’m locked down to the Caps! What deal are they making?”

Sid frowned before he pulled out a sheaf of paper out of his coat pocket and put on the table.

“Do you remember your contract containing the secondary clause?”

Sid asked as he smoothed out the sheaf of paper that Alex recognized as a well-worn copy of his own contract. Alex focused on the table as he tried to remember whether he had looked at that part. He shook his head and Sid flipped through six pages before pushing it towards Alex, who took it and read the pink highlighted portion of the contract.

_“In the case of a mating with an Alpha on another team, the Omega will be, by law, traded to the Alpha’s team and the Omega’s team shall be compensed accordingly for the loss. This compensation may include future draft picks, half contract buy outs or contract terminations.  If an Omega is breeding, arbitration may be required to come to an agreement due to the time taken away from the career of the Omega for childcare.”_

Alex swallowed hard as he re-read the flat statement, highlighted by pink ink. He hadn’t really thought about that clause at all as he had eagerly signed his contract with the Caps. Mating and kits were the furthest thing from his mind as he had anticipated his freedom. Especially since his mating was a nebulous thing that the Omega Office would arrange for him once his tenure was up and he had brought the required silverware home.

He hadn’t even dreamed that he would be mated with another player, so he hadn’t taken the team move into consideration. The Caps and the people of Washington were going to be brutal when the news and terms broke. He winced as he imagined the disappointment, despair and contempt from certain quarters that would appear when the terms were settled. He knew that there was a vocal contingent that had cried foul at his selection, due to him being an Omega. It wasn’t how he meant to exit Washington.

But he wasn’t going to whinge anymore about the changes in his life. It wasn’t like Sid had it any easier and he didn’t want to be that Omega that fell apart and relied on their Alpha to take care of everything.

“So I’m going to be a Pen next season, huh?”

Sid nodded, pushing the contract away to grasp Alex’s surprisingly cold hand.

“All these years, Bylsma would have killed to have had you be my winger and now it’s nearly a done deal. Funny how that goes.”

Alex snorted. “That’s an understatement.”

“Still true, though.”

Alex couldn’t deny that one bit.

Instead, he squeezed Sid’s hand before pulling away and picking up his fork.

“Eat. It’s getting cold and it won’t be that good if it is.”

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apologies for the long time between chapters. I just moved back to my hometown after ending my contract. I visited a friend beforehand and have just now, due to injury, gotten some downtime to write and post. Post has been proofed and edited, but if mistakes appear, they will be fixed. Title is still from Mika's "Rain". So on to the notes:
> 
> Alex and his family: It feels a bit too smooth, but then again, his family HAS lived with the implication that he will be taken away and mated without them having a say in it. They can't be angry or annoyed when Alex basically got out of the government's clutches with someone close to his age that won't treat him like garbage. They are also aware of the dangers, so had plans in case something DID happen. 
> 
> Alex-Leaving a country you know, even by choice, is traumatic and it's starting to hit him. I've lived in about four different countries with MAJOR cultural differences, so I elaborated on my feelings at the time. I didn't have him completely fall apart on that because he doesn't want to be seen as just an Omega and also because he doesn't want to keep on throwing all of the responsibilities on his Alpha. 
> 
> The section-Alex basically didn't care or take note of that because he was sure that he wasn't ever going to mate another hockey player in the NHL, so he didn't worry about it. So the rules are that the team losing their Omega has to get recompensation in the form of contract buy-outs, trades and even a conditional pick on the draft IF the Omega is that good. So it is a big, albeit rare deal.


	6. Don't Know What To Do

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Negotiations between the teams are set out and agreed upon, leaving Sid facing the loss of what he once thought was a permanent roster. He also gets reminded that he doesn't quite mind being bonded as much as he thought. Especially when facing some difficult situations.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry again for the delay. I think things have settled here, so I will be updating (hopefully) much more frequently. Proofed, but it errors persist, they will be fixed. Titles are still from Mika's "Rain".

__

Sid had just come in from his run and had just gotten the large pitcher of water that they kept in there after they worked out. He poured himself a tall glass and drank half of it down thirstily. 

It was once he had gotten some of his thirst quenched that he thought about checking for messages and checking his email. He was waiting to hear on when and where the conference was going to be now that the preliminaries for Alex’s transfer had been worked out.

To his relief, there was nothing in his inbox about the meeting that day, which made him breathe a sigh of relief. Although he wanted to get it over and done with, he was quite fine with putting it off just a bit longer to get used to the idea that in a year’s time, he’d be playing with his fiercest rival. And before that, he’d be a first time father to Alex’s kit. He isn't sure which one does his head in more: His new winger or the advent of his first born. 

Besides, he felt that they needed the breathing room after how intense and drawn out the negotiations had gotten. It had been a tough three months wrangling between the Caps and the Pens in order to hammer out a satisfactory agreement between the teams. No matter what was done, it was going to be a brutal transfer, since everyone knew that the Caps were going to be gutted no matter what. 

Sid frowned at the sound indicating a full mailbox and voicemail, since it indicated that there was going to be a whole lot of conversations he was going to either have or moderate. Something that he didn’t want to do, but as Alex’s Alpha and his mate, he was going to have to do.

It was one of the hypocrisies that he couldn’t quite wrap his head around. While the Commonwealth and America had favourable attitudes towards their Omegas, they still held onto some archaic components, especially in business. There had been a reason why so many CEO’s were Betas and Alphas: Omegas rarely got respect in the business world and usually required an Alpha or a Beta to be handling the deals, as if the Omegas were mentally deficient. 

It was something he had been trying to avoid doing to Alex, since not only was his Omega stronger and older, he could also see the nuances that Sid himself sometimes missed. Despite the Pens being his team and knowing that loyalty was only in effect as long as it was convenient for them, he had missed more than a few hints that Alex and his mother, the ever sharp-eyed Ovechkin had caught and volleyed back with enough ferocity to show them that they weren’t fucking around and that the deal had to be fair if they didn’t want a prospect that they were salivating after to retire, as it could have been possible. After that, Sid had no trouble admitting that what Alex said helped them hammer out a favourable deal that didn’t leave either team feeling as if they were ripped off horribly. Although the Pens had to give up two early round picks, Tanger, and pay out half of Alex’s salary, they hadn’t lost out Zhenya. That had been the biggest trump card the Pens had in their hand and had worried Sid enough to want to put in a caveat in regards to not giving him up. 

Losing Tanger hurt. Flower would be bereft, but it was business. Even so, he made sure to send Tanger a heartfelt text once he got the go-ahead from Mario and Tanger's when they broke for lunch. They weren't big on emotions, but he had played with Tanger for almost a lifetime in hockey years and even he wasn't that cold, contrary to popular opinion. He would much rather not have to lose any of his teammates, but just like any player, he knew that it was always a possibility. And with the negotiations, they couldn’t afford to be sloppy when it came to brokering deals. Not when it was the biggest deal to hit the league since the obscene amounts that the Devils paid out for Kovalchuk. It also was something that the Omega activists were keeping a close eye on to make sure that it was fair in case other Omegas needed to refer to it when hammering out their own deals. 

“I never set out to be in the spotlight, yet wherever I go, I end up shoving my face into it somehow.”

Sid had noted to Mario ruefully once they had finally gotten everyone to agree and sign the paperwork after so much wrangling. Mario laughed shortly as he cast a sidelong glance at Alex. He was still in deep conversation with his Sire and Leonsis despite the furrow between his eyebrows that telegraphed his discomfort to both Sid and Mario. Seeing him like that made Mario recall how it had been with his own Omega and the way that the media was as obtrusive as ever despite his desire to keep his family protected and with some privacy. He knew that Sid and Alex had a long road ahead of them that would only ease up if it was a kitten or if they took the kit to another country to let the spotlight fade. But until then...

“It’s just your luck. You and Ovechkina had been tied in together ever since you entered the league. It would have been more of a surprise if he was claimed by someone else. That personality of his wasn’t made to be silenced and hidden behind doors in a gilded cage. And since you’re together, it’s just something you will have to learn to live with.”

Sid grimaced slightly at that, wincing when Alex made the same face before standing up and pacing while digging his knuckles into his back. Sid couldn’t go to him until the conversation was over. Despite being there as Alex’s representative, he couldn’t really be on the Caps side since it was a conflict of interest. So he had to wait and try to keep his Alpha side down until it was under the perfect facade he had perfected since he was a kit and under the countless scrutiny his budding career called to him like iron fillings to a magnet.

“I know. I just wish that it didn’t have to happen when he’s starting to start nesting.”

Mario made a face and tamped down the much abused, scribbled, highlighted and in some cases, had coffee spilled on them before he replied. 

“I know it takes a long time and it is bothersome; but if it was the other way around, I’d be fighting tooth and nail to get the best terms for you.”

Sid grinned slightly and was about to answer when the talks continued, cementing the terms before brand new copies of the amended contracts were pushed towards them to sign.

That had been almost a month ago and it had been an eventful month, since Alex had been nesting and fighting horrific morning sickness that had left him with little energy to do much except troll Sid with weak chirps that did more to worry, rather than reassure him. 

“He’s going to be feeling it for awhile. It’s normal with first time breeding Omegas. Keep him hydrated and eating frequent small meals. If it keeps on happening, then bring him in.”

The obstetrician had told him when they had come in for the most recent appointment that Alex was scheduled for. Alex had only nodded exhaustedly, only managing a weak quip about not making a dent into Sid’s grocery bills after all. 

Sid had only shaken his head at that, thinking that his Omega would go back to being his ridiculous self in no time once the contract and morning sickness finally passed. 

It felt like it had somehow broken that morning when he had been woken up by Alex’s raucous laugh and rapid fire chatter coming from the room that had been designated as a rec room for all of their consoles and gaming equipment. He had laid in bed, listening to the stream of Russian he could make a few words out of before finally getting himself out of bed and getting ready for a run. He had left Alex happily chirping Sasha and had a great run before finding himself in the kitchen scrolling through his emails before he registered the silence in the house. 

“Alex?”

He called out, leaving the kitchen and heading towards the rec room and finding Alex stretching, his bump visible as he stretched as much as he could, the muscles in his back and arms shifting and bunching and making Sid’s mouth water just a bit. He had forgotten the power that Alex had, he belatedly realized as he watched the movements of Alex’s body as he bent from the waist, grunting a bit as he locked his fingers and pushed. Despite not training as hard as he had been in the past when he was getting ready for the season, he was still strong and agile. Despite noting the changes of Alex’s body as it shifted and softened as their kit grew, Sid was getting the reminder of exactly what kind of damage Alex could do if he put his mind to it. 

It was all very electrifying to watch and it made him recall how Alex had responded in the throes of his heat and the other encounters afterward. How he had thrown his head back and curled his fingers into the sheets as Sid thrust into him, their bodies sliding against each other, slick with sweat and heated by desire. How he had sucked on those nipples and caused Alex to yowl and turn bright pink as his orgasm rolled over him. How he had curled up around him and breathed in the warm, slightly herbal, milk-laced scent that signaled his current state. 

He swallowed hard as he watched Alex go through his routine, the warmth of desire curling up into the pit of his belly and propelling him into the room.

“You back. How was run?”

Alex asked, his eyes brightening as he took in the mussed and sweaty sight of his Alpha standing in front of him. 

“Good. What about you?”

Sid asked, his eyes traveling down to Alex’s bump, which was still peeking out of his bunched up tank top. 

“Just stretching. Back is hurting. Hips are hurting.”

Alex explained, his voice going low as Sid moved closer and put his hands on the bump and then slid towards his back and then slid down to his hips. He heard Alex's breath stutter as he worked the skin and muscles over his rounded hips and tight back. Alex moaned, his pupils contracting as his body relaxing as muscles loosened enough to let him have a bit of relief from the extra weight his back and hips weren't accustomed to carrying. He leaned into Sid and nuzzled him affectionately, moaning as Sid's fingers worked their magic.

“Better?”

“Much. Would be better if we go to room, yes?”

Alex whispered in a hoarse voice that made Sid shiver in anticipation. 

“Yes. Let's go.”

Sid kissed him, meaning only to give him a chaste kiss and separating. But Alex had other ideas and drew him into an open mouthed kiss that made Sid moan in rampant lust as he was being dragged off to their bedroom. 

“No. Shower instead. We haven't done it there yet.” 

Sid told him when he pulled away for just a brief moment. Alex grinned and instead, pulled him off into the direction of the bathroom. They stopped kissing long enough to shed their clothes and dump them in the hamper before he helped Alex into the shower. Once they were under the hot spray, Alex grabbed him again, grinding his cock into Sid's thigh. Getting the point, Sid turned him against the tiled wall and spread his legs.

He mouthed at Alex's bare throat as his fingers slid in between his legs and scissored them to open Alex up. Alex moaned, his arm flung out against the tile as Sid worked him open and loose. It wasn't until his keens got higher in pitch that Sid positioned himself in front of him.

He squatted just a bit before he pressed himself up against Alex and entered him, moving slowly until he was inside him, closing his eyes and breathing deep through his nose as he moved. He paused to take a deep breath and grab Alex's hip, sliding his hand down to his knee.

“Move your leg up a bit.” 

Alex complied, hooking his leg up on Sid's hip. It was only then that Sid started moving, an easy in and out pattern that had Alex yowling as he slid against the wet tile. With each thrust, he was seeing stars as Sid thrust. He wrapped his arms around Sid's neck, pulling himself up only just and changing the angle slightly, allowing Sid to enter him deeper. His cock was trapped between them and the friction was pushing closer and closer to the edge. But it wasn't until Sid hit that spot that his vision was starting to get streaky and his orgasm was...just..right...

He threw his head back and gasped out as his cock exploded and there was a warm gush of wetness between their groins. He could hear Sid grunting as his thrusts got faster and faster until he felt an internal pop and Sid was still. They stayed like that for a few moments, with Sid resting his forehead onto his shoulder as they both got their breathing under control before Alex lowered his leg and Sid pulled out slowly. 

Sid kissed him again before he aimed the water spray towards them, drenching them both before grabbing the soap and shampoo, cleaning Alex up first before Alex returned the favour. Once they were clean and dressed again, Sid picked up his phone and muttered a quiet string of swears.

“What is it?”

Sid didn't really say anything and instead handed the phone over to Alex to read for himself.

“ _Sorry for the long delay in clearing this up. We have a spot for the press conference. It's in three hours at the arena. We have to do it now, since the contract negotiations leaked and everyone is livid.”_

“Well, at least we don't have to wait any longer.”

Alex said in the silence, making Sid snort.

“Well, we'd better get ready then. Don't want to disappoint our loving crowd of journalists.”

It was Alex's turn to snort.

~**~*~*~

Sid loosened his tie and breathed a sigh of relief as he sat down on the couch. Alex followed suit and scooted closer to his Alpha. Neither of them spoke as Sid wrapped his arm around Alex's shoulder and pressed a kiss to his temple.

“That could have been worse.”

Alex laughed, an edge to his voice as craned his neck to look at Sid., both of them recalling the questions that they had just been hit with literally out of the gate.

It wasn't one of the most stellar press conferences that they could have had, but there had been worse ones. Sid was glad to have gotten out without minor wounds. A few jabs about nepotism and some sneered remarks about his choice of partners had been the worst of it. Alex had expected it, so he had been equipped with a few, well placed zingers that had left the press reeling and Mario hiding a grin behind his press releases.

“I guess you expect him to pick good Canadian Omega like you? Why? Have you won Rocket trophy? Calder? That is what he has with me here.”

The reporter had blinked and turned a beet red, stammering their way through the questions before they were shut down by TSN asking about possible line changes and contract negotiations. Although Sid felt sorry for that reporter being shut down, he knew that Alex was just dishing out the same that they were giving him. If they thought that he wasn't going to be the same Omega that fought tooth and nail to get to the NHL and a captaincy, they had another thing coming most certainly.

The rest of the conference had gone differently after that, but there were still a few digs to be made before it was finally done and they could leave to the safety of their home and for them to decompress.

That was the only reason why they were even talking about the ridiculous claims that they both had been hit with.

“Yeah. They could have accused _you_ of seducing me to cripple the Russian team and the Caps in one blow.”

Sid shook his head. “Then you missed the Washington Reporter's questions.”

“Guess I must have. I was too busy ducking at all the allegations from the Pittsburgh ones that I must have missed that one. I don't even think that Don Cherry will be able to top them.”

“Nah. He's actually mellowed out once the news about the kit were confirmed. He already hinted as much to Strombo that Canada will benefit from us once the kit's born. In fact, he's already salivating at the thought of having a good Canadian boy take over our legacy from the Russians.”

Alex's eyes widened and the stony expression softened before it cracked into a smirk.

“He would see it that way.”

Sid laughed and shrugged one shoulder. “Better that than have him yapping about our nontraditional wedding and you corrupting me and whatnot.”

They had a quiet laugh about it once more before Alex rested his head onto Sid's shoulder.

“So what's on the agenda after this?”

Sid frowned, looking at his mobile to see if there was actually something on the agenda that he had missed before they were bundled off in a hurry once the rest of the media and paps were let loose. 

All he saw was a text from Tanger that simply asked for him to call as soon as he could. 

“Hey. I'll be back in just a bit. Gotta talk to Tanger.”

Alex raised his head and winced at Sid before moving away to let Sid up. 

“Let me know...If you need to talk. After.”

Alex offered, his reply mumbled, his face slightly pink at the offer, making Sid feel touched that Alex was willing to be an ear to listen if things with Tanger didn't go as planned. 

“Thank you. I, uh, I'll keep it in mind.”

Alex nodded, his face flushing darker red before he grabbed the remote and turned on the tv, giving Sid his cue to make his getaway and talk to his erstwhile teammate.

~*~*~*~*~

It wasn't an easy call to make, but Sid somehow got enough guts to dial the number and wait until Tanger picked up.

“I guess this is the end of the line for us.” Tanger had said after they exchanged greetings, his tone rueful, rather than harsh and accusatory as Sid had expected it to be. After all, it was his mate that was taking his roster spot, more or less.

“Yeah. I wish it wasn't like this, though.” Sid replied, his eyes prickling at the thought of not seeing Tanger's wide smile and floppy hair in the dressing room and instead, seeing him across the ice in a new uniform and having to get used to thinking of him as another opponent rather than his defence.

“It's just what we have to deal with. I don't like it, but I also know Alex doesn't like it either.”

Sid swallowed hard at that surprisingly adult take on the trade, but then, Tanger had grown up a whole lot after losing Luc and siring an Omega of his own. He hadn't meant to be uncharitable, but out of all the reactions, he wasn't expecting quiet resignation and sympathy.

“Yeah. I know. It's not been the best of situations, to say the least. I will miss you, Tanger.”

“Ah! Of course you will! But in case you get too sad, name your kit after me.”

Sid laughed at that, the mood dispelled by the corny joke.

“The closest you might get is a middle name.”

“I'll take that. It would be hilarious to see Geno's face if that happened.” They snickered about that for a bit before Tanger cleared his throat.

“Seriously. It's going to be fine. Now go be with that Omega of yours. It's not like you'll get much of that once the season starts. I'll see you, yeah?”

“Yeah. Bye Tanger.”

He should have been surprised that instead of going outside and practicing slapshots, he ended up curled up against a quiet Alex, who only let him curl up against him as they silently watched the subtitled Russian soap on the television.

Oddly enough, he wasn't.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tanger-I know that even though Alex is a crucial part of the team, he was the one most likely to be gone along with the picks. He's more philosophical about the situation and isn't as angry as Sid thought he would be because of what his own kit is. He's become much more aware of all the hoops his kit has to deal with once they grow up.  
> Press conference-I figure that they are usually a nightmare and with what they had to announce, it wasn't going to go well. Alex does get some good ones in, but yeah...I tried my best.   
> Sid and Alex-*cough* The only explanation I have is that Sid needs a reminder that he doesn't have the typical omega and that he is starting to see him for more than just a biological driven narrative when it comes to dealing with him.   
> Male Omegas- They tend to carry for seven months in this verse, unlike the female Omegas, who can birth multiples and carry for longer.


	7. The Words You Couldn't Say

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alex is haunted by the failed attack, but can't bring himself to speak of it to Sid just yet. Especially not that the Season opener is looming. Sid only wants to impress his mate and start the season on a high note, but the rumours and speculation of the press threaten to ruin that. At least until Alex interferes and Sid takes action.

_Alex felt like he was fighting someone without a face, but he knew that he was fighting against an Alpha. The acrid scent was strong in the air and it nearly made him gag. He swallowed and tried to push the Alpha away. He should have been able to do it, since he wasn't as tall or as strong as he was, but no matter how much he fought back, the Alpha was swatting him away as easily as if he was a child._

_He was slapped, and he could feel the buttons of his shirt opened up and the hands that he was trying to futilely keep away from his belt inexorably moving towards their goal._

_It was then that he gave into that embarrassing instinct that he hadn't ever dared employ before._

_He keened and hoped that an Alpha would appear._

_He keened and keened and-_

Alex woke up and blinked sleepily at the alarm clock, dimly registering the numbers as they glowed green in the soft morning light. He breathed a sigh of relied and closed his eyes. It was just a nightmare. One that hadn't plagued him in months. Ever since he and Sid had finally gotten everything legal sorted, the nightmares had stopped. He laid there for a bit until his heart had slowed down and he was breathing normally when he looked at the alarm clock numbers again.

He stared at them for a little longer before his brain registered that if he didn't get up at that exact moment, he was going to be late for morning skate. He tried to bolt out of bed, but was quickly reminded that he wasn't going to practice for at least eight months. He looked down at the bump under his shirt and smoothed his t-shirt over it. He rested his hand on his bump briefly, being rewarded by a kick. Despite it happening more often as the pregnancy progressed, he never stopped feeling awe at the fact that he was carrying their kit. Although he had always been aware that he was going to breed, he had never thought of the specifics on how that was going to occur. It was pretty nebulous, something that was going to happen in the future when hockey was no longer an option and he would be nesting in a _dacha_ bought for him by a state assigned Alpha. It wasn't supposed to happen now, but now that it had, the wonder just kept growing daily.

He stroked the bump again, yawning slightly as he rubbed his eyes. He didn't have to be up, but he still got himself up. The nightmare coming back made it less desirable to stay in bed. He didn't want for the feelings of shame and disgust that invariably followed whenever he had that nightmare. Although he had quite faint and fuzzy memories of what exactly had taken place that night, he was sure that the nightmare was part of that. He hadn't told Sid about them in full detail, not wanting to bare that shame to his Alpha, even though he was well aware that Sid wouldn't ever judge him. Maybe he would, in time, but it just didn't feel like he could do that just yet.

Determined to not let it ruin his day, Alex braced himself against the mattress and pushed his body up to a sitting position and tried to ignore how ungraceful he probably looked with his center of gravity now out of whack. Once he was on his feet, he made his way to the bathroom and got cleaned up. Once he was done, he headed to the kitchen and smiled at a still sleepy Sid, who was busy drinking a cup of coffee in an attempt to wake up somewhat.

“Morning.”

Sid mumbled something that could have passed for a return greeting as Alex kissed his temple before making a beeline to the fridge to get some juice to drink and to get away from the smell of coffee. Although it had been months since it had made him want to throw up, he still avoided being too close in case the old triggers came back and he was puking in the sink. It hadn't been fun, those first months with the constant nausea and sickness and poor Sid having to be picked up by a caffeine bearing Zhenya. He was glad that they had passed and even though he couldn't drink it himself, he could at least tolerate being in the same room as Sid when he was enjoying his morning cup of coffee.

“Did you forget about training today?”

Sid asked, not unkindly as he watched Alex pour himself out a glass of tangerine juice, something that he had developed an addiction to early on in his pregnancy.

“Yeah. I was training since I was a kit. So hard to get used to not going to practice this month.”

Sid nodded as he drank down the last dredges of his milky coffee.

“That is the hardest thing of being out on leave.” He lowered his cup and his mouth tightened when he saw the dark smudges under Alex's eyes and the deep grooves that bracketed his mouth, making his upper lip almost non-existent. He had only seen that look on Alex's face during the playoffs and when the news of his attempted assault had sunk in. He had also seen a similar, but a less severe version of it when Alex was plagued with nightmares that he tried to brush off as inconsequential.

“Nightmare?”

He asked quietly as he walked by his mate to put his cup down into the sink and returned to embrace Alex from behind.

Alex shrugged and tried to move away, but Sid kept him in the same spot until Alex nodded.

“Are they getting worse?”

Sid asked, pulling Alex closer so that his back was flush against Sid's front and he could wrap his arms around him to rest his hands on Alex's protruding bump and smiling when he was rewarded by a small nudge.

“He knows his sire.”

Alex murmured, resting his hand over his Alpha's, the tension between them dissipated slightly at the kit's kick.

“Alex...Sashenka...You know I am here for you, yeah? You don't have to hide anything from me, yeah?”

Alex sighed heavily before turning in Sid's arms and facing his Alpha.

“I know, Sid. I know. I just...I can't. Not yet. Someday.”

Sid forced himself to smile at the answer, despite feeling as if he wanted to shake the truth out of his mate. He knew that there was no point in getting angry at Alex or forcing him to do anything. He knew Alex well enough to know that forcing him to do anything would get him the opposite. He also was damned aware that any kind of trauma needed to heal and he knew that despite the veneer of moving forward, the hurt of being attacked was still quite fresh.

So he let it go and knew that it was the right thing to do when Alex's eyes lit up and he pressed a soft kiss on Sid's cheekbone. Sid made a small noise in the back of his throat before sighing and regretfully pulling away.

“Zhenya's going to be here soon. I'll be back in the afternoon and pick you up for the game. Do you have any plans today?”

He asked, wondering if he should ask someone to come and keep Alex company until it was time for them to go to the game.

“Nope. Other than finishing in the nursery.”

Alex snorted then shook his head.

“Zhenya and Syoma would laugh to see how domesticated I've become. So would my dam and sire.”

Sid made a small noise at that, his face colouring slightly as he pictured Alex being domestic. Despite the Alpha side of him practically growling in pleasure, the rational side of him was embarrassed to find the idea so appealing. He cleared his throat and instead, pulled away to finish getting ready for his ride.

Alex didn't notice this slip and shook his head at the idea and watched as Sid popped a couple of strong mints into his mouth before leaving. Sid decided that it was probably a good thing that he wasn't a typical Alpha to let his instincts overrule him, nor was he one to say something without weighing the outcomes.

A trick that came in handy when dealing with the press and when dealing with his mate. He was good at gauging Alex's moods, finding that it was pretty similar to how he had read him as an opponent on the ice and had saved himself a whole lot of grief and a ton of close calls as well. They had so far, made it work and he wasn't about to jeopardize it. Not when the kit was so close in coming and not when they were (hopefully) finally over the inauspicious circumstances that had brought them together.

He was relieved that things were moving in the right direction, despite there still being some setbacks that would hopefully be dealt with and have an even stabler life. But that was still in the future and right now, he had to get going

“Okay, I'm out. I'll see you in the afternoon and at the game.”

~*~*~*~*~

Sid was practically bouncing on his skates as he waited for the signal to get out on the ice for the home opener. Excitement and adrenaline coursed through his veins as he listened to the muffled sounds of the announcer getting the crowd riled up for the Pens. He looked down at the floor and bounced from foot to foot as he waited. He stayed looking down until it was time to get out on the ice, not pausing until he was out there, skating the loops and checking out the signs and the cheering fans that were in the full arena.

He grinned at some of the signs, rolling his eyes at some that asked to be his wife and quickly skated away from them as if they had filthy sayings scrawled on them. It was a point of ribbing in the locker room as to how many signs they could see during the games. He didn't mind the jokes or seeing the signs, since they were just part of the landscape in the arena. Besides, it wasn't as if he was going to go look for everyone that had written a sign with the same message.

But now, what with Alex in one of the box watching the game, he felt a small spark of anger at the signs. It was as if they had forgotten that he had just recently been mated. Or worse, tried to make him feel as if he had made a grave error that needed fixing at the earliest possible moment. He had gotten some of those snide asides at the pregame press scrum and had bared his teeth at the reporters that had done that before they were tactfully told that press time was over and to move along for later soundbites. Although they had glared at the team handler, they knew that there wasn't much that they could do. An Alpha captain had given them the non-verbal brush off and that, no matter where they were, was a signal that needed to be respected. Sid refused to feel bad for them having to leave. He could take a whole lot of crap from the press. But if they got anywhere near to touching his mate, all bets were off. He didn't care what the context was. He wasn't going to allow them to push Alex into the box that all Omegas had constructed around them by the rest of society.

He scowled, but pushed it away. He had a game to win and (as much as he hated to admit it) a mate to impress. Even though he hated to admit it, the Alpha in him was clamoring to show off to his mate what he could really do on ice. It was futile, but it didn't stop him from wanting to do so.

“Nervous?”

He looked up and grinned weakly at Geno, who had just skated up to him and lightly tapped Sid's elbow to get his attention.

“Nah. Just opening season jitters.”

Geno raised an eyebrow at that and snorted.

“Not nervous because Sashenka is watching?”

Sid scrunched his nose at that, but the blush creeping across his face was enough of an answer for Geno.

“He in the box?”

Sid nodded, pushing away a bit and looking up and around the arena, subtly looking for his mate and smiling to himself when he caught sight of Alex sitting in one of the boxes and looking down at the rink as well. He didn't expect any different, but it was still nice to know that Alex was focused on his new team.

Geno followed Sid's gaze and smiled softly before he nudged Sid towards the line and it was then that they came face to face with the Rangers front line. It wasn't time to be mooning over his mate. He had to get his head in the game and start this season on a high note that would hopefully dictate the rest of the year and pay off in June. Exhaling heavily, he took his spot and removed his helmet in time to listen to the anthem.

It was time to begin.

~*~*~*~*

Alex got up from his seat during the second period intermission, his back was acting up again and the kit was horribly restless. He also needed to piss something awful and to shake off the restlessness that had come over him as he watched the action on the ice. He watched everything with a concentration that he knew many didn't think him capable of, studying the lines and trying to see where he would be fitting in, exactly. He didn't think he would be with Sid right away, but he hoped that it would happen sooner, rather than later. Especially since the Pens were behind by two and he had to restrain himself whenever he saw a play that he could have turned into a scoring opportunity.

He had some ideas he could use when he finally came off his leave and he would probably run them by Sid whenever they had some quiet moments before the kit came along. Having decided on a course of action, he made his awkward and slow way towards the washroom. He could feel the eyes of the other box occupants as well as some of the press on him, but he ignored them. He would have normally given a rueful grin and made some kind of joke as he passed by, but the glances were not the usual kind.

He could feel an undercurrent of hostility. Not to mention contempt. The kind that he hadn't experienced since he was a coltish kit just breaking into the NHL. He forced himself to ignore it, since he was damned well aware that it stemmed from the way that he had been bonded and mated. It wasn't the usual narrative, but it wasn't going to stop them from gossiping and speculating. It was the way of the land when it came to Omegas and even though he didn't like it, there was no point in addressing it.

Despite itching to do so, he knew that it was just going to turn and bite him on the ass, so he just clenched his jaw and went to the washroom. He took care of business and went back to his box, refusing to flinch even when he heard the usual “whore” hissed at him.

He refused to think about it anymore and instead focused on the game instead.

It didn't stop the faint burning in his cheeks at least until Sid scored.

Fuck those assholes.

~*~*~*~

Sid wiped his face with the towel as he was inundated with the usual questions after the game. They had managed to win in overtime and he was feeling good. The night had ended on a positive note and he was itching to get his Omega home and fucking him until they were both slick with sweat and too exhausted to move. He was more impatient than ever to get the press scrum over and done with and his irritation thrummed under his skin and trying to dampen his good mood.

But he tamped down the impulse and rode it out, giving the same canned answers to the same questions.

“Would you agree that having mated Ovechkin was the best move the team could have made to grab the Cup this year?”

Sid could only hear the roaring rush of blood as he fixed the reporter with eyes he knew were gold from rage. He was about to pummel the beta reporter when Alex's hand slipped into his, diffusing his rage so that it left him blinking in surprise at how quickly it had left.

“That is only a bonus of mating with me. After all, who could resist an Omega like me? Crosby is one lucky Alpha, wouldn't you say? And our kit, well, hockey will never be the same once they start to play.”

The tense atmosphere was gone and nervous laughter erupted at Alex's statement. None of the reporters catching the slight tremor in Alex's voice that Sid did, making him squeeze Alex's hand. Alex squeezed back, but it was faint and Sid could feel the coldness and shaking that wouldn't stop despite Sid being there.

So he made the choice and got himself and Alex out without a word.

They weren't important.

Alex was.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alex-He's learned to trust Sid, but he simply can't share that with Sid just yet. It's not logical, but he's not ready to talk about being rescued and the potential outcomes of that night. He will, but needs more time.  
> Sid-His weak spot is everyone talking shit about Alex. He's not going to put up with it and he's just not giving a fuck about disrupting the status quo. Alex is his to protect and he's taking the responsibility seriously.   
> Timeline-Alex is about five months in October. There is a bit of a time jump, so the kit will be born in December. 
> 
> This has been proofed as always and if mistakes occur, they will be fixed later on. Title still from Mika's song.
> 
> Apologies again for how long this is taking me to write. It's been a couple of hard months with very little time to work on this, coupled with a bit of a block as to how the story is going. This chapter was a hard one to write, but I think I am back on track and hopefully not have as much time in between chapters. 
> 
> Thanks to all that are patient and reading.


	8. Don't Look Back

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sid and Alex both get different news regarding the fate of the Alpha in the Czech Republic. The news are then juxtaposed with the long awaited arrival of their newest family and this event precipitates the question of their future-Whether it will be together or apart.

It had been late in the evening when the concierge in the Boston hotel they were staying at handed Sid the two creamy, important looking envelopes with his name written on them in smooth copperplate script he hadn't seen outside of Europe. He thanked the man and moved upstairs, not wanting to open it and read the contents until he was behind closed doors. He didn't need anyone to witness what he knew would be a total lack of control if it was the news that he had been both expecting and dreading at the same time.

Sid had not brought up the assault with Alex ever since they had that conversation earlier in the year. He hadn't wanted to be callous and break the still fragile bond that they had been cautiously building. Despite the instinct and desire to go back to the Czech Republic and tear that damned bastard apart, he resisted it and forced himself to be logical and let the law handle it. He had waited patiently for any information from the Czech government and it looked like after so many months, he had gotten rewarded for his patience.

Once he had gotten the room as homey as he possibly could, he sat down on the corner of the bed and tore the envelope open. It revealed a sheaf of important looking documents, all printed in heavy, blocky Czech script. He couldn't make heads or tails out of it and could only see that it looked like an incident report.

He frowned and put the sheet behind the others and saw that this one was in finer print, still in Czech, but had heavy officials seals stamped on the bottom. He sighed and put it behind the sheaf of papers and breathed a small sigh of relief when he finally saw a letter that was all in English.

“Finally.”

He skimmed it and his mouth got taught in both anger and relief.

The letter was a brief statement from the Czech courts on the trial of the Alpha that had attempted to mate Alex without his permission. The name was something he skimmed over, not wanting to get into a rage right before he had to nap and play. Besides, he was sure that Alpha was no longer in the land of the living. It had been a public embarrassment for the Czech Republic to have the World Championships marred by that attempted bonding. Although it had all worked out perfectly in the end, the loss of face had to be rectified.

Sid's mouth hardened into a thin white line when he read that the Alpha was in prison and would be serving a five year sentence and the government offered its heartfelt apologies and hoped that it wouldn't tarnish the country for him and his Omega. The rest was a breakdown of how and when the trial was conducted, the evidence used and the verdict. Attached to that sheet was his own statement as well as the statement from the doctors who had seen Alex and the Russian coach. He didn't read all of the points in the reports, just skimmed over the salient points and shoved the paperwork back in the envelope.

It should have felt like a triumph, but it was just sordid, flat and tinged with the slightest regret that he hadn't had the chance to pass judgment on the Alpha himself, with Alex at his side. He knew it wasn't done anymore, that practice being outlawed ages ago. But he still wanted to do it and have Alex watch.

He tossed it on top of his suitcase and opened the other envelope and read the contents. He had only gotten halfway through it before he threw it across the room. His temper was up and he wished that he could tear the bastard that had sent him that piece of bureaucratic bullshit.

He bared his teeth in burgeoning rage and when he realized what he was doing, he shook his head and stood up from the bed, walking around in tight circles as he forced his Alpha nature down.

It wasn't until he had gone several times around the room that he managed to take some of the edge and by the time his alarm beeped for his nap, he had calmed down long enough to get some rest and save up his rage for the game.

~*~*~*~

Alex was nearly asleep when his mobile rang, jostling him out of it as he scrambled to pick it up.

“ _Da_?”

Alex asked as he rubbed his eyes and tried to pay attention to the phone call. Although he wasn't happy about being disrupted, he didn't want to miss a phone call from Sid. It was getting close to his due date and he had been getting pains on and off for the whole day, something that his dam had said was perfectly normal for being so close to the due date.

“ _It's been taken care of, Sashenka.”_

The call ended and Alex put the phone down and laid back, despite sleep having instantly fled once he the words had sunk in.

So they had done it after all.

He looked up at the ceiling and tried to push away the creeping anxiety and guilt over the announcement. He didn't honestly know how to feel about the news. On one hand, it was a relief to know that he wouldn't ever have to live with the knowledge that his attacker was out there doing the same thing over and over again. On the other hand, he knew how harsh the old Soviet influenced law could be.

Alex closed his eyes and forced himself to clear his mind, something he had been doing for the past little while to chase the nightmares and the worry of the upcoming birth away. He breathed in deeply, loosening all his muscles as much as possible. He then exhaled, feeling the tension and the emotions clear and he lay there, thinking about nothing in particular until he felt balanced enough to get out of bed. There was no way that he was going to sleep anymore.

Sighing at the ordeal that awaited him, he pushed the covers back and managed to sit up after just a bit of a struggle. He then boosted himself up to stand and at that moment when the pain came and forced him down again. It was as if his pelvis and back were being torn apart. He sat back even further on the bed and gasped.

Biting down his panic, he reached for the phone and looked through the contacts with clumsy fingers until he found his brother's number and called. He listened to it ring a couple of times, his worry at missing Mikhail rising until his brother answered.

“ _Get over here. I think it's time.”_

~*~*~*~*~*

Sid managed to pull out his somewhat pristine boarding pass out of his pocket and showed it to the attendant, a nervous looking Beta that practically shoved it right back at him and babbled something before she quickly helped the next Pen behind him. He inwardly sighed when that happened and tried to not project as much. He hadn't really been aware that he had been doing it, if he was honest. But he hadn't really thought about anything else since he had checked his phone and saw the text that Mikhail had sent an hour before.

“ _Sashenka's labour started. We're taking him to the hospital. See you there if you can make it on time.”_

He had typed a reply stating that he would do his best to get there and had hopped onto the bus and now the plane, with what he thought was his usual game face. He had even signed pictures and posed with some fans that had clearly been there for awhile and he didn't think anything was really amiss.

At least until that poor girl had practically done her best to get rid of him without seeming impolite.

He hadn't thought that he was being obvious about his worry when they were boarding the plane from Boston, but he also had forgotten that Flower and Geno had sharper eyes than he had given them credit for. It explained why instead of sitting alone like he usually did after a slapdash game, he had two shadows beside him.

“Is it really necessary?”

He muttered as he got settled and buckled his belt up. Flower and Geno exchanged a look and Flower snorted.

“If G wasn't the calmest alpha ever and Flower wasn't mated, we'd be choking on your scent. Did something happen to Alex?”

Max asked, the slight teasing tone sliding from his voice as he realized that was probably the reason why Sid was so agitated that his scent was so strong and all over the place. Geno frowned and stared at Sid until he finally nodded and scrubbed his face with both of his hands.

“Mikhail texted me an hour ago. I told him I'll be there when Alex gives birth. I mean, I read the books and I know it takes awhile. So we should be there on time. I just don't want to miss it.”

Flower and Geno nodded, the former chewing on his lower lip at Sid's confession. Geno pulled out his phone and quickly sent off a text, careful to hide it from the flight attendant that was walking by and making sure that they were all strapped in and following the safety protocols. He slid his phone out of sight when she walked back and muffled the notification with his hand before checking the message.

“You still have time, Sid. Mikhail said he's nowhere near ready yet. We should make it in time. So calm down, Sidney. You'll be there shortly.”

Sid blew out a deep breath and sat back, his scent dropping to almost undetectable as he did. It was a small thing, but it was reassuring to know that he wasn't going to be stuck on a plane while his first kit was born. And if he was...Well, the Ovechkins would be there at least. Small comfort, but at least he wouldn't be alone.

“Okay. Yeah. Okay.”

~*~*~*~*~

Someone must have alerted the airport and Sid found himself whisked away as fast as possible when the plane touched down. He was rushed through the gates and bundled into a car that he only had time to give directions to before he was driven to the hospital.

He took a swig of water as the city, covered in snow and unusually silent, whizzed past.

Sid was having a kit and he felt as if he had been plunged into a surreal world because of the knowledge.

Despite the knowledge having been there, despite the months spent noticing the growth of Alex's belly and the milk scent of his skin getting stronger and stronger as the time went, it was still an abstract.

At least it had been until he had gotten Mikhail's text. His kit was this close to being here and all he could think of as he got closer was:

“ _What will happen after all of this? Can we still function as a unit?”_

He was jolted out of his thoughts by the car abruptly stopping in front of the hospital and the driver turning to give him an encouraging smile as Sid gathered his wits about him and rushed inside, pausing only long enough to confirm with the receptionist as to where Alex was and running to the maternity ward.

Mikhail was the one to meet him and guide him to the room where they handed him the scrubs and told him to strip off his suit jacket and leave it all there.

“How long has he been in labour then?”

Sid managed to ask once he got the scrubs on and made sure everything was fastened properly and not bound to slip off at a crucial moment.

“Just two hours. It's started to get worse now, so it is a good thing that you are here.”

Mikhail replied before Sid was ushered into the room where Alex was now walking slow circles in, his hand at his back and his face pale as he moved.

“You are here.”

Was all he said as Sid came up to him and wrapped his arm around his mate's waist and helped him continue the circuit.

“I couldn't let you have our kit alone. I wouldn't ever be that kind of an Alpha.” Sid replied quietly, making Alex laugh. Even at his worst, Sid couldn't ever be a bad Alpha. He was too dutiful and too dependable. Maybe that stolidness made him too serious and maybe a tad boring. But then, he wasn't a kit anymore to crave excitement at all times. It was nice for a while, but that same exciting Alpha was more than likely not going to stick around for the hard parts.

Not how Sid would. This, he had realized as he moved in slow circles trying to ride the pain as he waited to get dilated enough and he'd once again thanked his lucky stars that he had Sid as a mate rather than someone the state would have picked for him.

He laughed for a bit until the pain of another contraction cutting it short. He hissed in pain and staggered a bit on his feet.

“Do you want to go back to bed?”

Sid asked, supporting him so that he wasn't going to fall on the floor.

“Yeah. I think-”

His answer was cut short again, the contraction making him only capable of a low moan as Sid helped to get him back to the bed. It was once that he was under the light blanket that Alex yelped and turned bright red.

“What? What is it?”

Alex took a deep breath and let it out slowly, his face going from red to white and back again as he grabbed the railings and braced himself to not push.

“Oh shit!”

Sid exclaimed as he went to fetch the doctor.

Their kit was finally going to be born.

~*~*~*~*~

Alex clamped his mouth shut as yet another contraction tore through his body. He tried to ride it out, but he couldn't help the low groan that escaped him. This one was bad and the nurses and doctors hovering around were starting to look worried. He had been in labour for almost seven hours and they had said that he was quite close to being ready to give birth. He was grateful that the pain was going to end sooner, rather than later, and he was grateful that despite his family not being there, Sid was. His presence alone was enough to calm him down and bear the pain and the length with some modicum of calm. He was sure that if Sid had taken longer, the birth would have been as horrific as others that he had heard as the worst case scenarios.

Although he knew that there was no shame in crying out, he couldn't bring himself to do it. He was still too self-conscious to do so. Even when the pain was worse than anything he had felt on ice. It just didn't feel right to him. At least not until the contractions came in earnest and he pushed and pushed without reprieve.

His head lolled backwards and he breathed through his nose in an effort to gather up as much energy as he could for the next round. The doctor's voice was far away and he focused on grabbing the opportunity. He only wavered when he happened to chance a glance at Sid.

Sid's face was parchment white as he let Alex grab his hand and squeeze as he laboured one last time to push their kit into the world. He winced, but only pressed his nose into Alex's hair and murmured encouragements as Alex nearly sat up in the bed, sweat pouring down his face before the doctor exclaimed in surprise and the sound of squalling filled the delivery room.

“Congratulations! You have a strong, healthy kit!”

Alex's eyes widened and tears poured down his face as the kit's cries lowered in volume and stopped as the nurses and doctor bustled around to get the kit clean and to take care of the afterbirth. Sid didn't say anything, only pressed damp kisses all over Alex's sweaty face as he purred out his happiness over the event.

“He's finally here.” Alex murmured, his joy cut short as yet another contraction hit him, this time, making him shout and bring the doctor back at his side.

The doctor examined him quickly, a dumbfounded look on his face that he shook off quickly before slipping into his professional role with ease.

“Oh. Oh! You're going to have to push, Alex. On my count. Ready? One, Two-”

~*~*~*~*

“This...This is quite the surprise.” Sid murmured as he and Alex looked at the plastic bassinet that contained their swaddled kits. They were asleep and wrapped up snugly, with blue caps on their heads and mittens on their tiny hands so that they didn't scratch each other. Both were too small and red faced to tell who they resembled, but Sid could at least say that their thick, dark brown hair was a Crosby trait.

“You're telling me. I never would have guessed it. But then, you always have to be a cut above the rest, Even in being an Alpha.” Alex replied, his eyes open to mere slits after the exhaustion of the day. The second kit had been born with very little fuss compared to his sibling, making everyone in the delivery room be completely dumbfounded at his appearance. Omega men had single births as a rule. There were always outliers, of course. But not in large enough numbers to make it significant to notice.

“Trust a kit of ours to be exceptional.” Sid muttered, making Alex give him a bleary look before shutting his eyes tightly.

“I wouldn't expect any less from you, Sashenka.” Sid murmured, kissing Alex deeply before pulling away. “Now and forever. You are my exceptional Omega.”

Alex pretended to not cry and Sid pretended to not see the tears after that, bot content to focus on their kits, the world outside pushed away even if it was just for one day.

As he thought of the day, Sid checked his watch and laughed, making Alex look at him oddly.

“It's Christmas eve. They're Christmas babies!”

Alex laughed.

“And so they are.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Homestretch now. I am thankful to one of the eagle-eyed readers for asking about the Alpha that attacked Alex and his fate, so here it is. It is a deliberately murky take on it since it does take place in a different system and in this universe, there is a whole lot of Eastern bloc subterfuge and intrigue going on. 
> 
> kits-They are Christmas Eve babies, but for Alex, it's not as a big deal, since he Celebrates Orthodox Christmas. He's not going to rain on Sid's parade though.
> 
> Thanks again for reading and commenting. Much appreciated.
> 
> Apologies, but I fly out tomorrow, so this is a bit short.


	9. You Did It And You Don't Even Know

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alex and Sid discuss the best course of action now that they have been contacted by the Russian government. Sid is determined to protect his family at all costs. Alex though, has played that game far longer and takes action into his own hands to ensure his family's safety.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So thank you for being patient in regards to this story. I kind of tend to work in places with internet issues, kind of thing and it was just this week I have my own access. I also had to rewrite a good chunk of the middle for the penultimate chapter because it just wasn't sitting right somehow. 
> 
> It has been edited, but if mistakes appear, they will be fixed. Chapter title is still from Rain by Mika, I don't know/own/can predict political motivations or climate or people.
> 
> I think I have covered it all. Let's go.

“ There you go, my darling. There you go. It's all right. It's all right.”

Alex murmured to Jonathan, who was fussing a bit as Alex rocked him to sleep. Sergei, his brother, was deeply asleep in the crook of Alex's other arm. He was quite calmer and less fussy than his younger brother and it amazed Alex at how easy he was to take care of.

“ Just like his father.” Sid's mother had commented the first time that she had watched over them to give Alex a much needed respite.

“ He was an easy baby, a dream to have had first. Taylor was a bit trickier.”

She had commented as she had deposited Jonathan in his arms and giving Sergei to his dam.

Sid had squawked a protest at that, an undignified noise that made Alex turn to hide his face into the blanket covering Sergei lest he start laughing right in his Alpha's face. Despite Sid's patience for most of Alex's quirks, Alex wasn't about to push it by laughing at him. Sid didn't notice and sulkily walked out of the room with Jonathan in his arms, whose small whines were quieted when he was surrounded by the scent of his sire surrounding him.

The memory came back to him as he walked another circle until Jonathan's eyelids finally drooped shut and he was able to put both of them down into their crib. Covering them lightly with a blanket, he turned out the main light and left the nightlight on. He cracked the door open just a bit before heading to the master bedroom.

He had been hoping to find Sid there and he couldn't help but to feel the pang of disappointment. They hadn't seen each other in five days since the kits had been allowed home, since Sid had to be back on the road again after the Christmas break and when Sid had gotten home, Alex and the kits had been at his dam’s house. They had just gotten back awhile back and he was sorry that he hadn’t been able to talk to Sid before his mate had ensconced himself in the bath to have some time to himself.

He wasn’t much for being alone when he recharged, he was too much of an extrovert for that. But he understood that Sid needed that downtime. Particularly after a long road stretch.

He hoped that it was just that, a long road stretch that he needed to recover from, but after catching sight of an envelope peeking out of Sid’s bag that looked all too similar to the one he had hastily stuffed in a drawer, he knew that wasn’t the case.

The Omega Department had been busy, he was fully aware that the phone call and the letter written in flowery Cyrillic was to let him know that they weren’t quite ready to give him and his kits up. Despite the fact that they were Canadian citizens and (this Alex suspected, but hadn’t voiced out of fear lest he jinx them) Alphas like their sire, the Omega Department still hadn’t given up their mandate. Alex wondered, quite briefly, if it would be worth it, to take the steps that they were suggesting to him once he had thoroughly read between the lines.

They would subtly threaten Sid. They would threaten his kit. That was how they operated. That was all they knew to do. And even though he was sure that they were just bluffing, the question  “What if they aren't?” popped into his mind and an icy pit of fear settled into his stomach.

He had dismissed it and he knew that he should have gotten rid of the letter and not even thought about it once he had read it, but the old mores and rules that had been ingrained in him since he had been a kit were still there influencing what he should do to keep his mate and his kits safe and happy. He bit his lip and shook his head, as if by doing so, the thoughts would leave his mind.

It helped, just a bit though. The uneasiness in his chest told him that being with his Alpha would be the best thing to finally get rid of that feeling, so he followed those imperatives and went into the bathroom.

~*~*~*~*

Sid sat in the bath, trying to unwind from the stress of finally getting the kits out of the hospital and settled into their nursery, which had been hastily put together by the Ovechkins and his mother and sister. Alex wanted to spend more time with the kits, something he hadn't much of a chance to do in the hospital. That had given Sid the chance to take a bath by himself and let his mind wander. It had been a rare luxury to have a good block of silence to himself, rather than being with Alex.

Alex's instincts were still playing havoc with him. Despite the birth going smoothly, despite the surprise of the second kit, Alex seemed to be much more fragile than he had been in the beginning. Sid's protective instincts had gone into overdrive and he had no problem in keeping the world away from his Omega and kits. He hadn't realized how much effort it had taken until he had stripped and sat in the bath, the hot water loosening his muscles and letting the tension he had accumulated slip away from him into the soapy water.

But his peace didn't last long enough for him to enjoy it. The contents of the letter he had received two weeks ago had entered his mind again.

He hadn't told Alex about it just yet. There hadn't been much time to do so. He didn't want to ruin the day for themselves. Not when they had, to an extent, waited for it to arrive so that they could finally get a hint on what their lives would be right after that.

For Sid, it was a no brainer: Alex and the kits were his clan now. Unless Alex himself wanted to go back to Russia, leaving one of the kits behind. The idea of having his clan broken in two made his hackles rise and even though he was sure that Alex hadn't ever dreamed of doing that exact thing, the idea of it still made his instincts go haywire. Alex was his Omega. As much as the idea had been so alien to him in the beginning, it had become second nature to think of him that way as the months had passed since their mating and since the kits had just been born. His life was shared with Alex and now, with Jonathan and Sergei.

He sat up and brought his knees up to his chin and rested it upon them.

Sid was still sitting there, his chin on his knees when the door opened and Alex entered.

“ Room for one more?”

Alex asks, his hand still on the door in case Sid decided otherwise.

“ Always.”

Alex smiled and let his towel drop before padding over to the bathtub and getting in. He settled in front of Sid and purred as Sid poured water over his head and rubbed the water into Alex's pinkened skin. Alex stretched his neck and purred more as Sid's fingers continued to rub the water onto his skin, slicking it with the pads of his fingers. Sid carried on wetting Alex's skin until he had touched practically every inch of him and Alex's purring carried on in waves until he finally started to drift off, his body slack with trust and relaxation.

Sid laughed softly as he kept on running his hands across Alex's body, tracing the small map of stretch marks that all the Shea butter slathered there didn't quite eradicate. He touched Alex's softened belly gently, making Alex made a soft noise of protest.

Sid nips his ear, making Alex fall quiet as Sid's hand moves from his belly to his thigh and down to his knee. Sid rests his hand there and they lie there quietly, the only sound is when a hand or a foot moves in the water.

“ How are they?”

Alex sighed sleepily. “Asleep. My dam's watching them.”

Sid made a noise of acknowledgment and ran his fingers through Alex's damp curls, which have grown from their usual tamed wilderness to a mane that touched Alex's shoulders in a riot of brown and silver. Sid buried his nose into the curls and inhaled the scent of shampoo, a bit of sweat and the dampness of the bath.

“ What is troubling you, Sid?”

“ What made you think that?”

Alex laughed and craned his neck to look at his mate.

“ You are too quiet. Even for you. Whatever it is that you are worried about is lying like a cloak on you. So tell me, Seedney. What is bothering you now?”

Sid chewed on his lip, turning it redder as he debated sharing the information of the letter. He wanted, oh he so wanted, to keep it away from his mate and for him to not worry. He knew that there was no legal way that the Russian Omega department could claim payment for whatever push they had in the Czech republic. He had checked with the Canadian consulate the moment that they had opened up. Their jurisdiction over Alex was over the minute that their mating had become legal and the paperwork stamped with the Canadian stamp.

Alex had enough on his plate as it was, and Sid was tempted to lie and smooth it over with a platitude or other. But as he opened his mouth, he found that he couldn't formulate the lie. Not with Alex looking at him like that. Not when he had promised that they would be equals and he wouldn't ever relegate him to being a helpless Omega that had no say in his destiny. He had promised that and he was going to deliver even when everything inside him screamed against it.

“ The Russian Omega Department sent me a letter the day the twins were born.”

Alex's pupils widened, swallowing the bright blue of his irises and turning them into black pools. That was the impression that Sidney got, coupled with the waves of water overflowing from the bath and then he was face to face with Alex, their noses only mere inches from touching.

“ Did they say anything about payment to you? Or hinted at it?”

Alex asked, his voice harsh and cracking as he spoke.

Sid nodded, making Alex's mouth harden and his top lip almost disappear as he worried it between his teeth.

“ It doesn't matter, Sashenka. They can't offer anything that would give me incentive to give you or the kits up. Nothing. You are my family. Nothing and no one will change that.”

Sid replied, his voice rising in conviction while he reached out and put his hand on the back of Alex's head, his thumb grazing the side of Alex's temple.

Alex's eyes widened at that, but he didn't protest. How could he, when he knew that Sid was speaking the truth?

“ But they can-”

“ They can't do anything. I checked and lawyered up. I took other measures also, just to keep all the bases covered. The letter was...Enough to convince me that was the best course of action.”

Alex's mouth curled up at the dryness that the comments were delivered with. Of course he would have.

And he didn't blame him for doing so. Not when he knew how much dirty pool the government liked to play.

“ I got a phone call that day. Telling me that something had been done.”

Sid blinked rapidly at the news.

“ I'm seeing now that it wasn't a coincidence that you got a letter from them as well.”

Sid worried at his lip again, letting the new information sink in. So it wasn't just him that the Russian government were trying to intimidate into giving up one of the twins or Alex. Or preferably both.

“ Nope. The Czech government gave me a heads up about the Alpha who attacked you.”

Alex's eyes flashed dark blue at that and he jerked slightly, closing his eyes as he got himself under control. Sid waited for a bit before putting a tentative hand on his shoulder.

“ Let me guess: He's in jail right?”

Sid snorted. “On paper. I'm going to guess that's not the case in reality if they made that sort of call to you.”

Alex nodded jerkily. “Of course. It was a great insult that had to be answered in turn. The fall out...Well...We're collateral for their wounded pride. Maybe even a very rich Alpha's wounded pride, I'd guess.”

Sid growled softly at those words.

“ You're far more than that, Alex. You are a Canadian citizen. You have rights. There's no way that they could simply grab you and our kits. The world doesn't work that way.”

Sid's eyes had gone gold in his anger. His instincts full on at the idea of Alex crumbling in the face of their intimidation and requests.

Alex's face flushed at Sid's vehemence on his behalf, the scent of him almost overpowering despite the bubble bath and shampoo. It wasn't supposed to be such a turn on to have Sid ready to to beat back the world to protect him and the kits. But it was and it was only the severity of the conversation that kept him from baring his neck to his Alpha.

Sid's face flushed as he noticed the change in his mate. He wanted Alex. Oh how he wanted him. But it wasn't the right time.

“ I'm not going to let you go. If they ever come for you, I'll destroy them. You are with me, Alex. Until death do us part. That I can promise you.”

Alex swallowed hard at the words and nodded.

“ I as well, Sid.”

Sid blew out a deep breath before he buried his nose into the juncture of Alex's neck and shoulder.

“ All the same. Russia is out for awhile. We can't be too complacent.”

Alex opened his mouth to reply, but only gasped as Sid's teeth broke through the skin and no more was said about it.

~*~*~*~

“ Merry Christmas, Sid.” Geno greeted Sid when he opened the door to find his teammate on the porch, his arms full of brightly coloured packages.

Sid laughed, his laughter loud even above the general din of his usually quiet Pittsburgh home. He stepped aside to let him in and took the packages, handing them off to one of the million Russians that were milling about the house.

“ Is all Russians here?” Geno asked as he shoved his coat into the over-stuffed closet and kicked off his boots and placed them neatly among the racks that looked to be overflowing.

Sid shrugged as he led him past the throngs of people and towards the living room where Alex was ensconced with the kits, who seemed to be unfazed by the milieu of people around them.

“ It feels like it, but I mean, they are Sashenka's first litter. I can't imagine any of the Russians staying away. Hell, you're here.”

Geno shrugged. It was true. No one was going to stay away from the Christening, despite it landing right at Epiphany. Not when it was a bit of a touch and go after the kits had been born, a long stay until the doctors were satisfied that they would be fine at home. It had been a tense time for Sid and Sashenka, since Sid couldn't take the time off to be with his family and it was wearing on him and Sashenka had fretted quite a bit over his litter until they were safe at home and thriving with him.

“ It was like you say, Sid. First litter from a male Omega in a long time. Who would stay away? Besides, I want to see the two kits that had you so worried.”

Geno replied. Sid's mouth twisted at that, but he didn't say anything. Not when it had been all too obvious even to Pierre Maguire, of all obnoxious people, that his mind wasn't a hundred percent on the ice in the last few weeks. It didn't affect the team as much as some had predicted when the news had broken out, but it was still painfully obvious when Sid hadn't held himself back from lashing out at anyone that was stupid enough to get into his face on ice. The Schenns had learned that the hard way and  Giroux had made the effort to rein in his team more than usual. The Caps had been more than gracious out of respect for their erstwhile captain, but it hadn't prevented them from carving out a win from the Pens in the meantime.

That was a win that Sid hadn't even begrudged them. They had been relegated to a lower-level team without their Captain and despite the concessions that the Pens had made, it was still painfully obvious that it was an uneven trade all around. The league, in recognition of that discrepancy, had ruled that they would get the first draft pick and the rest would be determined with the usual lottery. Oddly enough, the Oilers and the Sabres, who stood to win the most, had agreed to the terms, making the Caps fans wince at the implications. They would have to rebuild, but at least they didn't begrudge the circumstances that made that necessary.

“ Is okay, Sid. It's kits. No Alpha is quite the same after their litter arrives.” Geno stated as they made their way to where Alex had the kits swaddled in a makeshift nest on the love seat. Alex himself was glowing, despite the dark smudges of exhaustion under his eyes and the pallor of his slightly hollowed out cheeks. Despite not working out, he was losing weight and muscle, looking leaner than he had any right to after just giving birth.

“ He's okay. His dam and grandam are here.” Sid muttered as an aside to Geno, who had stiffened imperceptibly at the sight of the careworn Omega. “Trust me on this, G. He's getting better.”

Geno made a small sound as a reply as he moved in closer to look down at the kits.

“ They are handsome kits.”  Geno greeted Alex as he hid his earlier alarm at the sight of him. He grinned, a small bit of Alpha pride rearing up when Alex blushed and pulled down the blankets to reveal the two wide awake kits who were staring curiously at him.

“ Thank you, Zhenya .  One was an unexpected gift, but he's welcome all the same.”

Alex replied as he gathered up the kits and presented them to Zhenya, who looked at them closely, carefully holding them under the watchful eyes of the Ovechkin clan.

The kits were identical, with Sid's round baby face surrounded by a thick dark tangle of hair. He assumed that Jonathan was the kit with the blue trimmed sleeper and Sergei in red, but apart from that, they were identical copies of each other. There were hints of Sashenka in the high cheekbones and the bright, wide blue eyes that Geno could see were just going to get lighter like their dam's own. They would be big, judging by their dam and sire and he had no doubt that they would present as Alphas. Already, there was a slight sense of power thrumming under their skin like his parents had said he had had as a kit himself. He hated to admit it, but he was relieved of the possibility of that happening. They wouldn't become pawns of the state like their dam had been and he was positive that Sashenka would be relieved to know that his fate would not be visited upon his kits. Even if they were all Canadian citizens, the Russian government had an extremely long reach and wouldn't hesitate to take what they considered themselves cheated out of.

“ They will make you proud, I am sure.”

Geno murmured before lightly touching his fingers across the foreheads of the kits. Sashenka murmured his thanks and resettled them into the nest of blankets.

“ Go. There is lots to eat and drink. Talk to the others.”

Geno followed the command of Sashenka's sire, leaving Sid with the clan as he made his way to the table that was laden with food and drink. Grabbing himself some pyrogies, sour cream and sausage, he found himself bumping into Seroyzha and Nikita, who made happy exclamations at seeing him again.

“ Geno! Good to see you! How have you been, man?”

Nikita asked as he took a long drink of his tea. Geno grinned.

“ Good. Good. I came as soon as I could. My family's still celebrating the season.”

Seroyzha laughed at that.

“ Mine too, but I couldn't not be here. Not when we were there at the beginning. Had to see how it was all going to play out. Funny how the kits look almost like their sire, yeah?”

Geno and Nikita made murmurs of agreement at that, since it struck them as funny how they looked like their sire when Alex looked more like his dam.

“ Hopefully they present as Alphas like him. Save Sid and Sashenka a whole lot of grief in the long run. Can you imagine fending off Alphas for those two?”

Geno snorted at that. “ You clearly forgot who their dam is. Sashenka never had to rely on Misha or his sire before he was mated.”

The other two were quiet for a bit before Seroyzha finally muttered “ All it takes is one time, though.”

Geno winced at that and pretended to be very interested in the rest of the food on his plate. Although they had been thinking about it, he never thought that anyone would comment on how Sashenka actually found himself whelping for Sid in the first place.

“ Sergei, come on, man. It wasn't as if he was looking to get in trouble. What was he going to do? Head straight home after the game while the Alphas party it up? He did play with us. He deserved to be out there as much as the rest of us. Besides, it's not the 1900's. Omegas have a right to be wherever they want.”

Nikita shot back in angry whispers, not wanting to cause a scene in Sid's home. Sergei made a face, but refrained from replying, not wanting to be a poor guest and ruin the party. They are in silence until Backstrom appeared in the same corner, a plate of food in his hands as per Sashenka's instructions.

“ Evgeni, any news on when Alex will come back on the ice?” He asked, his voice low with the faint Swedish accent that hadn't quite left his voice despite the years in Washington.

“ Not until next season, I think. They won't let him until the kits are about six months old. And that is just training.”

Brooksy showed up and shook his head as he drank from his glass of tea.

“ We could have used him, but those kits sure make up for it. Your captain's got a horseshoe up his ass, that's for certain.”

The others took the hint and started speculating on their chances for the finals until the party inevitably wound down and everyone started to quietly take their leave of the new sire and dam, who politely bid them all good bye before disappearing and leaving the farewells to the rest of the family.

~*~*~*~

“ It was a success, I would say.” Sid commented as they climbed into bed. Alex had smiled and poked him in the side.

“ No food left. Of course it is a success.” Alex teased him, kissing Sid sloppily as they settled into bed, with him spooning Sid.

“ How could there be any left with your dam and grandam trying to push seconds on everyone?” Sid asked, making Alex laugh.

“ It is good food! Why wouldn't you take seconds?”

Sid snickered and turned around to face Alex, his eyes going dark gold and serious, making Alex swallow down whatever joke he was going to make. There was a small pause that was fraught with the weight of an emotion that neither of them could quite name before Alex was the one to initiate the intimacy.

He kissed Sid with the wanton abandonment he had displayed when he had been nearly out of his mind when his heat was coursing through him. The same sweet smell that had been there rose from his skin, and Sid's rational mind was gone.

He claimed Alex, pinning him down and savagely biting down hard, his teeth ripping skin and his fingers marking dark bruises onto Alex's body. Sid's eyes glowed as he thrust into Alex over and over until Alex was hoarsely shouting Sid's name as his body was wracked with the unending waves of his orgasm.

They repeated this over and over again until they passed out, their bodies too wrung out to do anything but sleep.

~*~*~*~*~

“ We'll find him, Sid. Don't worry. We're going to get him back.”

Mario assured him, his voice firm with conviction as he made yet another call to the consulate while the other agents and lawyers did the same, while Sid sat, ashen faced and with Jonathan and Sergei fussing in his arms. Despite Nathalie's careful offers to take one of the kits to make it easier for Sid, he wouldn't let go of them. Their dam had disappeared four days ago and he wasn't going to be so careless with them and lose them also. Four days of agonizing loneliness and worry and being unable to function as he wondered if Alex had gone out of his own will or if they had finally gotten him. Four days of not knowing if he was well, or if he was sitting in a plush prison, waiting for his fate as the brood-omega of a rich and unscrupulous Alpha.

The thought made him both furious and sick and it was all he could do to not go after Alex. He had his kits to protect, despite feeling as if he was being torn in two over his decision. Alex...Alex was his mate. His other half...But his kits, they were the proof of the love they had for each other. If he were to lose them too, it would break them. He knew that as clearly as he knew that he was useless in chasing after Alex without any plan.

So he took care of them and never let them out of his sight, curling up around their basket when he was ordered by his mother and Mario to sleep.

Mario's voice got sharp then and one of the lawyers ended his call abruptly, making Sid's head snap up.

“ They think he's crossed into Lithuania. They-”

** “ Russia just declared war on the Baltics.” **


	10. I Bet My Life On You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alex gets caught up in the Baltic situation, while Sid is working to keep his sanity and his children safe. Until finally, they get a break and Alex himself makes it to safe ground. But not quite unscathed.

 

Alex swallowed hard and buried his nose into the head of the kit that had somehow become attached to his hip in the last while since leaving the Vilnius region. They had been on the roads for a long time and he was starting to lose track of how many days they had been travelling. The monotony was only broken by breaks for foraging and answering calls of nature. The soldiers had done their best. Inasmuch as they possibly could. They had begged supplies and food from the country-folk they had come across, not so much for themselves but for the Omegas. And even though they were fully aware that Alex was an Omega, they hadn't tried to pester him as most Alphas would have tried to.

Privately, Alex thought it was because they thought he was a Beta. He hadn't dared disabuse them of the notion and had made sure to hide his passport, Euros and other paperwork just in case. It was war and he hadn't ever discounted the stories that his grandparents had passed down from their parents. He couldn't be too careful and he would need all of that to get his passage back home and hope that Sid would listen to his explanations before...

Alex swallowed and forced himself to not think about the worst possible outcome at that moment. The thing was that he couldn't help but to keep focusing on it, worrying it like a child picking at a scab. He hoped against hope that Sid wouldn't let his rage and hurt prevent him from hearing Alex out. He hoped that Sid would let him return. It wouldn't quite be the same, but they could work through it. They could try at least. Even if it was just for Jon and Seroyzha's sake.

He could take that. Live with that punishment even if he had meant to do the right thing. A gesture that was utterly pointless now that Russia had decided to reclaim its Soviet borders. That had been the only good thing for him and other Russian Omegas: They were now the bottom priority as the war raged on. They could flee and not have the lingering worry that they or their loved ones would be punished.

Sid was safe now and it had nothing to do with his impulsive gesture. Irony or ironies.

Setting that aside, he focused on not falling apart and keeping the others from fussing or worrying too much. He knew that they needed someone to show them that things were going to work out. They needed a captain and that was a role that he was happy to provide to them. At least then, he could forget his own problems.

Like the fact that he was cold, hungry and scared out of his wits, but he wouldn't show any of it as they were bumped and jostled as they travelled through the badly maintained roads into Latvia. They were rushing against the tide and Alex had given up trying to even guess how much longer it would take for them to get to Latvia and then sail across to Sweden and hope that they would be able to make it to Stockholm and to the embassy.

He swallowed hard and tried to not think about being in Sweden and the embassy and asking for asylum for at least fifteen Lithuanian and Latvian omegas that he ended up being corralled in with when he had arrived in Lithuania. He hadn't really expected for that to have happened, if he was bluntly honest. He had counted on getting through to his connecting flight and presenting himself at the Omega Division in the Kremlin and accept the fate he knew had been waiting for him ever since Prague.

They had been kept in that safe area for hours, many of them whispering and wondering to themselves as to why Russia had decided to act now or all times and what it would mean for all of them in the long run. So they waited, had tea and sandwiches delivered to them until an ashen faced official had given them all a satchel of provisions and had herded them to the trucks that were waiting in the unseasonably bitter cold that had enveloped Vilnius as of late.

“They will take you to Riga before it spills over even closer. Good luck, it's the best we can really do at this moment. God go with you.”

The officer had told them, his grey eyes focused on Alex as he spoke the words in passable English before shutting the doors and stepping away, letting the trucks rumble away to their destination. Alex shuddered and tried to not think about the fate of the officer. Especially when they heard what Alex hoped were not explosions or mortar shells exploding as they pulled away from Vilnius.

One of the younger ones whimpered and Alex snapped back to their current reality. He didn't want to get too close to anyone in case he had to live with the possibility of them dying on him. But he wasn't made of stone. He missed his kits and the little one that had whimpered had somehow snuggled himself under his arm and was trying to get closer to the milk scent that Alex was sure he was redolent of. He hadn't thought about it before, and he was forcing himself to not even guess at it as they travelled through the roads that were becoming more and more impassable the closer they were to Kaliningrad.

He pulled the young one close and let him snuggle in, pushing down the pang of longing for his own kits. He would see them soon. They would be a family soon. Just as long as they managed to get to Riga, it would be okay. It would be-

The loud explosion, the screams and the world turning itself upside down and inside out was all that the could see and feel and hear before the entire world righted itself again and he was left a bit deaf and with a bunch of screaming kids.

He pounded on the partition of the truck and was relieved to see an annoyed soldier glaring back at him once the old, rusty partition was opened up.

“Just a bomb. Nothing bad. No one got killed. One jeep was totalled but our guys are just scratched. We just gotta travel a bit faster now. We're about four hours from Riga.”

Alex closed his eyes and muttered a bit of a prayer that was stuck in his throat when a bullet hit the soldier and his blood and brains were splattered all over Alex and the screaming kit in his arms.

“GET DOWN!! ALL OF YOU! GET DOWN!!”

More bullets thudded into the truck and Alex wasted no time in grabbing as many of the kits close to his reach and pushing them onto the truckbed. Some of the bullets came close and some found their mark, but he didn't dare let himself think about that. Not until the zinging of the bullets stopped and everything was quiet.

The smell of blood was thick in his nose and he could hear some whimpering, which he hushed fast. He could hear the heavy thumping of boots outside and he forced himself to close his eyes and play dead, murmuring as much to the kit, whose heartbeat was thudding loudly against Alex's own rapidly hammering heart.

The kit, much to his relief, listened and let himself go lax in Alex's grip. They then both waited as they heard harsh Russian that was abruptly cut off by rapid gunfire. There was return fire, but it didn't last long. Still, Alex and the kits didn't move. Not even when soldiers climbed into the back and started looking through them.

It wasn't until one of them grabbed Alex's hair and spoke Lithuanian that Alex finally moved.

And got a rifle butt in the temple for his pains.

Too late, he realized that it wasn't the Lithuanian flag that the soldier had on his shoulder, but a Kaliningrad one.

That was when he got another hit and everything faded into red-streaked black.

~*~*~*~

“Sid, honey, you need to eat.” His mother stated as she put down a bowl of soup and warm, buttery bread with a cup of milky tea right beside it all. He blinked and looked at it, prepared to push it away and ignore it as he had been doing the last week, but found that he simply couldn't. Not when his insides felt like they were scraping against one another and his stomach decided at that moment to start growling and betraying his hunger. He also hated to admit it, but the dizzy spells had started up in full force and he was finding it difficult to concentrate and even stay awake.

So he sighed and pulled the food closer, tearing the bread into small pieces and dropping them in the bowl before giving it a few stirs and soaking all of the pieces before taking a spoonful. He couldn't help but to close his eyes and at the warm, comforting taste of the beef broth filled his mouth. He swallowed and methodically worked his way through the bowl and forced himself to ignore his mother and Mario's worried surveillance. He wanted to reassure them that it was fine now that he had eaten. He wanted to promise that he was going to stop neglecting himself and that he would stop obsessively monitoring Jon and Seroyzha.

But he knew that they didn't want to hear empty words. Not when he hadn't really shown that he was over the shock of Alex's disappearance somewhere in the Baltics.

The war had been announced two weeks prior and they still hadn't had word of Alex. The fighting was intense and Nato forces had stepped in, alongside the Estonians, Latvians and Finns. It was all out chaos and refugees, mostly Omegas, were flooding the western part of Europe. Sid and the Ovechkins were on tenterhooks, using all of their resources as they tried to find out exactly where Alex was. They were getting conflicting reports, some of them putting him in Minsk. Others had him in St. Petersburg and some reports put him in Tallinn. So far, nothing was concrete and Sid was starting to doubt that he'd ever see his mate again. The thread of their bond was growing fainter and fainter with each day and every morning he had a terrifying moment when he couldn't feel that connection to Alex and wondered if today was the day that he wasn't going to find it again.

But it was there. Always. Faint, but there and he couldn't help but to thank whatever deities were out there for that still being the case.

His mother watched him quietly and Sid had to wonder at her being so quiet. Mario too, he noticed, was also quiet. In fact, most of his attention was focused on his smartphone, but his expression wasn't giving anything away as he scrolled and tapped at the screen. He had to wonder then, if there were some kind of news. They hadn't had anything on the radar for awhile and the silence was worrisome. But Sid didn't push them right away. Not until he had finished two helpings of the soup and had polished off a sandwich on top of that.

It was when he was drinking the tea that Mario spoke up.

“We have something.”

Sid raised an eyebrow at that.

“It's concrete this time. They said that a group of Omegas are waiting in Riga and that Alex was among them.”

Sid's heart stopped at the news, not daring to believe that this was real and not another fabricated report.

His thoughts must have shown on his face, since Mario tapped his phone a couple of times and turned to show it to Sid.

It wasn't the best picture, taken from a security camera and sort of blurry at the bottom, but it was clear enough to show a face that had been in the corner of his vision for years. It was Alex. Ashen-faced, bruised, hollow-cheeked, and with tangled dark curls under a dirty wool tuque framing his face. Sid could also see the edges of a bloodied bandage peeking out from Alex's temple, making Sid wince. Alex was wearing a large woollen overcoat and he had ragged mitts on his hands. He had his arm around a child that Sid knew was an Omega. There were others surrounding him and most had their faces away from the camera. But Alex was looking straight into it, defiance edged with a tinge of fear written all over his face as he did so.

But it was his Alex.

His breath hitched in his throat as he saw this and it was then that the frozen knot of fear that had lodged itself into his chest dissipated somewhat. Alex was alive. His fate wasn't an unknown quality any longer.

“So when can we get him?”

~*~*~*~*

Alex breathed in, his chest hurting and his ribs protesting as he was forced against a wall. The knife was at his throat and even though tears were pouring down his cheeks, he was going to give in. Not when they were in Riga and so close to getting to Sweden.

“ _Where are they?”_

Alex turned his face away, not bothering to answer. They could do whatever they wanted with him, but he wasn't going to give up the kits. Not while he was still alive.

“ _Hit him again.”_

The command was given in almost a bored tone and Alex's head reeled when he was hit, his nose snapping and gushing blood down his mouth and chin. It hurt like a motherfucker, but it wasn't something he hadn't had happen before. He grinned at them once the pain faded to a manageable dullness, making the soldier's eyes narrow in glacial rage.

Alex should have seen it coming, really. But he had expected for the knife to either be pressed deeper into his throat or worse, end up between his ribs. Instead, the soldier slashed his face from mouth to cheekbone, leaving Alex to kneel down and cover the wound with his hands and force himself to not speak and make it worse. The blood was dripping between his fingers and it was steaming in the cold as it hit the snow. He watched it, the soldier's words fading in the background as he pressed on the wound harder to try and stop the bleeding.

He kept his eyes on the ground, ignoring the screaming until it was silenced. He looked up and nearly choked out a laugh when he saw the soldiers dropping their weapons and running away from the port and into trucks, jeeps and cars. He looked out into the water and closed his eyes in mute relief when he saw battle ships coming through the grey waters of the Baltic Sea.

They were safe.

~*~*~*~*

“Where is he? Where's Alex?” Sid asked, his voice just short of a growl as he made his way to the triage desk in the St. Goran's Hospital. Mario squeezed his shoulder, holding him back from any impulsive action. The touch made him draw back a bit and apologize to the head nurse, who was looking at him with a blank look on her face.

He took a deep breath, held it and exhaled it raggedly before he spoke to the nurse.

“I'm sorry. That was rude. I apologize. I was told by Commander Ivarsson that my mate had been transferred to this hospital. He was one of the Omegas rescued in Riga, if that helps.”

At the explanation, she lost the blank look and gave him a sympathetic glance as her fingers flew rapidly over the keyboard. She waited for a few moments and pulled up a ragged post it pad, scribbled the information on it and ripped off the sheet to hand it to him.

“Thank you.” Sid replied as he and Mario made a beeline to the elevator.

He punched in the number of the floor that the nurse had given him and they stood silent as the elevator went up three floors and let them out onto a crowded floor, full of staff, people and army personnel. Sid blanched at the sight, but Mario grabbed him and propelled him forward the room that Mario had gotten a glimpse of when Sid had faltered. Snippets of Swedish, German and English floated in the air as they made their way through and got to their destination, which was guarded by a soldier.

“State your purpose.”

Sid swallowed hard and moved forward, his uneasiness more or less controlled at being so close to his mate.

“Sidney Crosby. Alexander Ovechkina-Crosby is my mate and I have clearance to see him.”

After stating this, Sid pulled out the paperwork with the Swedish seal that he had been given and showed it to the soldier, who scanned it carefully before calling it into his commander, who gave the okay for Sid to enter.

The soldier's expression softened a bit as he stepped out of the way and opened the door for Sid to go on in. Sid smiled gratefully before entering the room.

He didn't register anything else in the room except Alex, who was sitting up in bed propped up by pillows. He had been looking at the window, but at the sound of the door opening he had turned to see who was coming in.

And gave Sid the full view of his bandaged and bruised face. His eyes were ringed in purple and the right side of Alex's face was swathed in bandages. His nose was splinted and packed.

“Not pretty, I know. But it was worth it.”

Alex mumbled, wincing as the stitches pulled at the side of his mouth a bit.

Sid laughed wetly. “You're always pretty, Alex.”

Alex's mouth curled into a faint smile as he carefully shook his head.

“Sid, I am-”

Sid moved quickly to the bed and put his fingers against Alex's swollen and cracked lips. He looked up at Alex's light blue eyes and all the anger, anxiety and worry slipped away. He saw, just from that look, why Alex had acted as he had. It hadn't been malice that had prompted him to take off.

As sappy as it was, all he could see in Alex's eyes was love. Nothing more and nothing less.

“You don't have to explain, Alex. I don't need it.”

Alex's eyes got glassy at that.

“I didn't do it to hurt you. Never wanted to hurt you.”

“I know. I know Alex. It's okay. It's okay.”

Sid soothed him, pressing a butterfly light kiss on his lips before carefully embracing his mate, both of them clutching at each other until their knuckles where white and their hands cramped up.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wasn't sure if I was going to have a war angle, but considering the actions of Russia in Georgia and the Ukraine, this is plausible. Lithuania itself has started conscription and the region is worried over what Russia may decide to do in the near future. 
> 
> Omegas-Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia would protect their Omegas and a refugee convoy is the one that makes the most sense for them to utilize and head to Sweden. There is a ferry service from Riga to Stockholm, so it makes sense that this would be the most rational route for them to take. 
> 
> Kaliningrad- It's like an outpost of Russia and if Russia was going to attack the Baltics, I guess it makes sense for them to have troops stationed there for attacks. 
> 
> Nato/Swedish Army-Just going by logistics, these would be the armies to be in the Baltic seas to rescue refugees, hence their cameos. 
> 
> Coda-I didn't plan on one, but this chapter was getting too long and unwieldly, so there will be one showing how Alex and Sid are after all this. They are in the midst of shock and relief at seeing each other again and the rest will be addressed later on.
> 
> Thank you to all that have patiently waited for this story to be written and have followed me this far. It has been proofed, but if errors remain, they will be fixed. Title from imagine Dragons.


	11. Wise enough to carry the scars without any blame

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Three snapshots of life after Alex and Sid come together in Sweden and Pittsburgh.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the long promised Coda. I admit that I was quite stuck on how to write it, hence the reason for it written as a series of vignettes. 
> 
> If there are any errors, they will be fixed later. Title is from "Distant Sun" by Crowded House.

_Coda_

_Stockholm-St. Goran's Hospital_

Alex stood in front of the hospital mirror and looked at himself critically. Despite having given birth not even a month or so before, he was gaunt. Whatever weight he had put on was gone, stripped from his body during the grueling journey from Lithuania and Latvia to Stockholm. He looked like what he imagined the omegas looked like in the 1950's in Siberia after the wars and everything else had happened. He was going to have to work hard to put the muscle back on.

He certainly wouldn't be able to feed his kits now. Alex closed his eyes and forced the feelings of inadequacy down. It was normal, the doctors had insisted. It was what happened during trauma and shock and the doctors assured him that it wouldn't harm his kits in the long run.

His kits. He bit his lip at the pang of loneliness that hit him at the thought of his Sergei and Jonathan. He had Skyped with his family, knowing that they were well taken care off and he had seen them and had been reassured that they were thriving, but it didn't stop the guilt of not being there with them.

But that would not be for much longer. So he ruthlessly quashed down the thoughts and continued with his inspection.

His healed ribs were not jutting too badly out of his skin, but he understood why Sid had been worried and why he took every opportunity to make sure that Alex was eating as much as he could. He looked sickly and weak. He smiled bitterly. After all those years of being told that he was everything that an Omega shouldn't be, he finally had been reduced to what society thought was proper: Weak, too thin and needing to be protected.

Alex shook his head and kept taking inventory of the damage.

His nose had finally healed and they had to fix the bridge. The bandages and the bruising had finally gone away and the only physical damage left was hidden by some gauze and medical tape. He had been given the go ahead to take it off and he had taken up the offer with alacrity. He hadn't let Sid be there when he finally saw the aftermath that had been left behind.

The doctors had done their best with stitching it up, but they had made it clear that there was going to be some pretty nasty scarring left behind. Sid had been angry, despite hiding it as well as he could. But Alex knew that he was upset that someone had dared to hurt his Omega. That someone had seen him as nothing more than a broodmare that needed to pay its dues for being allowed to have the temerity to have a shot at having a life.

He understood. If things had been reversed, he would have been the same as Sid. Maybe even worse, since he was damned well aware of what as at stake. He got it. But he couldn't bring himself to share this with Sid. At least, not yet.

He had been so exposed for so long that this small thing with all of its repercussions, was something he needed to see and accept alone before he showed it to anyone else. He needed it. Badly.

That was why he was standing in the bathroom of his hospital room with the door locked and peeled back the tape and bandages to look at the wound.

It was bad. But not ghastly or gory. At least it had healed. It was thickly scarred, a dark raw pink line that ran from the corner of his mouth, across his cheekbone, to nearly his ear. It wasn't as stiff, he saw when he opened his mouth and then smiled widely. There was only the slightest bit of tugging. It was fine. He could see the small pink dots where the sutures had gone in and the memory of getting the sutures was what made him shudder. It was bad, but not as horrible as he had expected. He could deal with this.

Alex threw the bandages in the garbage, washed his hands and exited to his room. Sid was there, waiting. He stood up when he saw Alex exit the bathroom. His face revealed no emotion as he took in the scar, his eyes scanning it and taking in everything about it.

“May I?”

Alex nodded, letting out a quiet breath of relief as he felt Sid's fingers carefully tracing it. He shivered at how it felt, the contrast of Sid's calloused fingers on the new skin.

He shivered at the look on Sid's face as he repeated the action again.

Oh.

_Oh._

_Pittsburgh_

“It's time.”

Alex nodded at his captain (Not Sid. They had agreed that he was his captain at the arena and his Alpha at home with the kits) and got in line with the others, who were giving him small punches of encouragement as he got in line with them. He nodded back at them, smiling slightly at them since he knew that he was nervous as hell.

He wasn't the enemy any longer. He was in the same uniform of black and gold, with his number stitched on his sleeve and the Penguin on his chest. He was one of theirs and he knew that they would back him up out there just like they had expected him to do for them. He wouldn't let them down.

But in order to do that, he really needed to calm the fuck down.

Despite having been in the league for years and training as soon as he was given the go ahead by the team doctors and the psychologists, he couldn't quite be as casual as he used to be. No matter how much he wanted to. He knew what they had been saying about him despite the team's efforts to shield him from the reports and the speculation about his fitness now that he had kits and what had happened in Lithuania during the Soviet Offensive. He hadn't listened to them, since he had been plagued by that for most of his career.

Instead, he trained and set about proving them wrong in the opening games taking place in Helsinki and Riga in an effort to ease the tensions now that the skirmishes had finished. He had to change his game play now, since he wasn't as big as he had been. But the speed he had gained more than made up for what he lacked in physicality.

So far, it had worked overseas and that helped ease the anxiety some.

But tonight was opening night at the Igloo and against the Flyers. He couldn't afford to be anything but more than his best.

The nervousness had come back along with all the doubts.

He bounced on his skates and cracked his neck as he stood in line with the others as they waited for the announcer to finish and allow them to make their entrance. He bounced a bit again and shook out his legs while leaning slightly on his stick.

Their name was called and he followed along with the rest of his team, accepting the fist bump that the captain gave to him. Their eyes met above their fists and he swore that for one second, he wasn't seeing the captain, but his Alpha smiling encouragement at him. It was gone and Alex went out onto the ice.

It was a small gesture, but it melted the worry sitting like a brick in his gut.

They won 3-2 and Alex somehow managed to get a Gordie Howe hat trick.

It was a better come back than if he had planned it.

_Stanley Cup Finals_

Sid felt the anxiousness growing in his chest as he scanned the press room one last time before heading back to the locker room. He was trailing glitter wherever he went, courtesy of Perron and despite knowing that he should have been annoyed, it didn’t matter. It was part of the celebrations after such a long cup drought. This didn’t come about every year, so he was going to embrace all parts of it.

Even if it meant that he was going to be finding tons of it all over the place for months on end.

Besides, the only person that he wanted to see had somehow gone awol on him before he could get to really talk to him away from the scrutinizing glare of the cameras and an arena full of fans. He only had time to hand over the cup to Alex, whose eyes had gone glassy with shock and disbelief at having  _finally_ won what he had paid so much in blood to even attain the chance to do so. He had wanted to stay and watch him take that triumphant loop around the ice, but of course he was dragged off for soundbites and missed seeing Alex finally get his moment of glory. 

“Captain! Hey Captain! You don’t look like you drank anything yet!”

Olli pressed an open bottle into his hand, urging him to drink. Sid only gave him a sidealong glance just to check on how drunk the kid was. Olli was red faced and slightly cross-eyed with it, which would explain why he was so casual with Sid. Although it was a bit off-putting for Sid, he took a drink of the proffered bottle and winced. Not bad, but not something that he was keen on taking up any time soon.

“There, I drank. Now can you tell me were Alex is?”

Sid asked as he handed the bottle back to Olli, who scanned the room fast.

“There, with Flower and Geno, I think.”

Sid blanched at that. If those three were together, plotting as he knew that they would, no one was safe. Sure enough, he saw Flower grinning, his eyes unfocused as he looked at Alex, who was speaking rapidly and gesturing wildly with his hands while Geno kept nodding, although Sid was willing to bed that neither of them were really catching much of what Alex was saying. They both looked pretty damned drunk and although Alex’s command of English was pretty decent, it tended to slip when he was pretty liquored up.

Shaking his head, he clapped Olli on the shoulder and moved towards were his mate was sitting. He figured that the celebrations should continue somewhere else. Like a nightclub or something and that it would actually take that long to get everyone in some semblance of order before shoving them out onto the grateful populace of Pittsburgh.

He caught Perron's eye and flicked his eyes to the clock, making the hint a little too obvious. But considering most of them were well beyond buzzed on booze and adrenaline at that point. Perron got the hint and started wrangling the closest players into the showers and loudly promising loads of shots and bars until dawn broke.

Olli gave Sid a speculative look that was spoiled by how drunk he was but only shrugged and made to follow the exodus of players to the showers.

“Thanks, Olli.”

Sid called out behind him. Olli only waved as he walked off, letting Sid make his way to Sasha, Geno and Flower, who had missed the entire clear out of the team.

Geno was the first to look up and with one glance at Sid, understood perfectly what his captain wanted. Muttering an excuse, he got up and discreetly left. Alex raised an eyebrow at his departure, but once he saw what had caused it, his face lit up.

Even with the thick scar that ran from the corner of his mouth to his ear, Alex's smile never failed to make Sid smile in response and a warm glow suffuse his chest. This was his Omega. His mate and no one else would ever dare hurt him or try to destroy him. And right now, all Sid wanted was to take him home so that they could properly celebrate the Stanley Cup win.

He thought that he had that impulse under control. Hell, he had been controlling it since the second period. Alex had nudged him, his eyes flickering between blue and grey as he moved past him to sit down after scoring the goal that Sid knew had decided it against Dallas. Sid had clamped down even tighter on his control then, since he knew damned well what that meant.

Alex's heat was not too far away and Sid knew there was no doubt what would happen right after the game. Although all he could think about after that subtle nudge and hint was pinning his mate and fucking him until they were both raw and covered with cuts and bruises, they had a game to win. And looking back, Sid knew that was the reason why he had suddenly gotten more aggressive and less careful with his plays. It would have been a disaster if it hadn't been for Geno and Kessel and Flower busting their asses to make sure that Dallas was shut down and prevented from scoring anything other than the lone goal that sealed their fate. 

And now...It was time. He had waited too damned long.

Alex's heats had more or less disappeared in the pursuit of the Cup. All of them were down to their last reserves. The fact that Alex was about to go into heat in the next twenty-four hours was playing havoc with Sid's Alpha instincts, since they had been starved of intimacy for so long.

Alex's eyes shifted colour again in response to the pheromones that Sid was putting out. He made a slight chirruping noise in response that clued Flower in, making the other Omega make his apologies and take off with alacrity.

When they were finally alone, the lust between cranked up on high. Alex stood up and let Sid wrap his arms around him, baring his neck in submission. Sid bit him. Hard enough to make him whimper and his knees weak.

Sid held him tighter, able to take the weight of him when his knees buckled. Although he was always big and solid for an Omega, Alex had lost a horrible amount of weight after the kits and after he had been caught in the conflict in Russia. He had somewhat recovered from most of that trauma, but he hadn't gained the muscle back again.

Sid wasn't exactly happy about that, since it brought back those black days in the hospital in Stockholm. They had spent about a month there, waiting for Alex to heal up enough to go back to Nova Scotia with the kits. They had holed up then, with Sid barely keeping it together around anyone that wasn't Alex or the kits.

It took longer than he expected for things to get back to normal. Last season had been touch and go and they had a second round exit. He was disappointed, but he wasn't surprised. He knew that it would take time for things to get back to normal. Alex had only played half of the games and although he had improved (and had, to his eternal embarrassment, won the Lindsay award) Sid knew that it wasn't time just yet.

So they had taken the break and buckled down once August rolled around. The difference was obvious to Sid then. Alex wasn't as big or as strong, but he had a determination in his ice blue eyes that made up for that. It was seeing this depth and seriousness in Alex that made Sid sure Alex would be hoisting the cup over his head in June. 

He had to admit that he couldn't help the smugness that welled up in him when he was proven right. He knew that Alex had privately doubted that it would come to this. After so many fruitless years and it had finally come after the worst possible two years of his life. They hadn't had time to talk about it (and probably wouldn't for at least a week or so) but when they finally would get the time, Sid would be sure to gently chirp him for it.

But right now, they needed to get the hell out of the locker room before Sid lost the white-knuckled grip he had on his control and coupled with Alex right there on that sticky and dirty locker-room floor. No. He took a deep breath and regretfully released Alex long enough to push him to his stall.

“We can get cleaned up at home. Get dressed before I end up taking you here.”

Alex nodded, taking a deep breath to steady himself from the abrupt change of Sid's mood and instead of chirping back, just did as he was told. Sid too, dressed in what felt like record time and fetched them a cab. He kept his cool only barely by scenting Alex, who leaned heavily into his side and simply hummed his contentment until they had arrived home.

Alex was the one that closed the door behind them before Sid knocked him down onto the rug, his mouth on Alex's neck and his hands ripping all of Alex's clothes off of his body. Sid would have been horrified in other circumstances with how he was acting. He had never been rough with Alex, not like he was being at that exact moment.

Even if he had wanted to pull back, Alex's scent and the way that he was being so pliant had pushed his instincts into hyperdrive. They were going to mate. It was going to be violent, bloody and possibly painful. He didn't care. They had never really been gentle with each other and neither would have it any other way. Besides, he was sure that after such a long period of celibacy, they didn't know how to do gentle. He just wanted for their scents to mix together, for his cock to be buried deep into Alex and for those wet thighs to be clamped around his waist as he plowed into Alex.

He only had time to do a bit of sloppy foreplay, scissoring his fingers into Alex's sopping wet entrance enough to make him loose before he buried himself in to the root. Alex keened, but not in pain and that was enough encouragement for Sid to ignore the voice that is telling him to stop and to simply go for it.

He took Alex on the rug in the living room, only sending messages to the team, the families and their friends when he's regained some kind of lucidity and when Alex wasn't writing in the throes of his long delayed heat. Sid's periods of lucidity are far and few in between for that week and a half. Alex didn't even regain his own until a few days later and it worried Sid something awful.

They've never had a heat as intense as this. In fact, ever since Russian most of Alex's heats had been fairly mild, lasting only a couple of days and their doctors had stated that it had been all of the trauma that had made them so and with time and care, they would even out again. Alex had accepted it and not questioned or talked about it. Sid had taken the same route. He didn't want to be a typical asshole Alpha and demand more kits. Sergei and Jonathan were enough. He had his Alex and his kits.

His family was complete. As long as Alex was healthy, the heat situation didn't bother him.

Until now, since Alex was so weak he could barely do anything by himself and Sid had to clean him up, force him to eat something and tuck him into bed.

He curled up around his Omega once he had finished cleaning up (he had to throw the rug out. There was not enough carpet shampoo in the world to get it even something resembling clean) and buried his nose into the back of Alex's neck and inhaled their mingled scents. He should have been able to go have gone straight to sleep after that.

He would have. If it hadn't been for the slightly sweet and milky scent he could detect on Alex's skin.

Oh.

_Oh._

_END._

**Author's Note:**

> Russia's division of the sexes-Betas have the rights that everyone else does. Alphas are higher on the rung, elites with money prestige and all that comes with. Omegas have almost no rights and are almost seen as property, but can gain their own prestige with the number of Alphas that they can produce. If they have exceptional skills, they get reprieves like Alex's, but with a limited time to prove themselves and gain some autonomy. If they fail, they are put back in the mating pool and sold off the highest bidder. Most Omegas belong to the state before their matings. 
> 
> Canada-One of the "progressive lands" for Omega rights, along with the Commonwealth. Omegas can have autonomy after producing a child for the state. Most other places have varying rights for Omegas, but all are in agreement in that Omegas must produce a child unless their health doesn't permit it. 
> 
> Ovechkina-Since he is an Omega, he gets the "a" appelation. If he was an Alpha, he'd get "Ovechkin" as his last name.


End file.
